


Karen of Cybertron

by Rangerfan58



Series: Cybertronian foster child [6]
Category: Transformers - All Media Types
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-07-12
Updated: 2017-07-12
Packaged: 2018-12-01 09:11:09
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 24
Words: 58,574
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11483223
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Rangerfan58/pseuds/Rangerfan58
Summary: part of this story was inspired by Planes: Fire and Rescue





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> part of this story was inspired by Planes: Fire and Rescue

There were explosions all around the young couple and there were also alarms signifying the fact that there was a mandatory evacuation happening, however before the couple went in they passed their two month old baby to one of the other people who had just gotten in the shuttle

"Take her to Captain Faireborn she'll know what to do from there"

"But Commander"

"That's an order Lt.!"

"Yes ma'am, what about you and your husband?"

"We're staying behind to avert what disaster we can, though there's no hope of avoiding the destruction of this base maybe we can minimize the damage it will cause"

"Okay but why Captain Faireborn?"

"Don't worry about that you just follow orders"

"Yes ma'am"

The shuttle leaves and five minutes later it was destroyed. Six hours later the shuttle arrived at the EDC base and the person who had the infant/newborn went straight over to Captain Faireborn and handed over the child

"Her parents told us to give the child to you and that you would know what to do from here"

"Indeed I do, time to take this little one to her new family"

"Wait she has a new family already? I thought she was going into the foster care system?"

"No she's not, her parents had a will that's signed and legal that was made shortly after they found out about the little one they wanted to be sure she had a home to go to"

"What about blood relatives?"

"She doesn't have any blood relatives alive, but like I said that has already been taken care of, but first I think I should make sure the little one is safe to go to her new home"

Faireborn goes to the office temporarily and grabs a car seat which she puts in the back of her car and then puts the baby into the car seat and goes to another base where her new family was

"Captain Faireborn you never told us you were coming, what brings you here?"

"Where's Optimus, Rodimus and Megatron, Barricade?"

"In a conference call with Russia's president something about potential Quintesson activity"

(Sighs) "I should have known something like this would happen, how long have they been in there?"

"Two hours already"

"Any idea as to when they'll be finished?"

"None, do you absolutely need those three or can Prowl and Soundwave handle this?"

"I really need the three leaders for this one by the way where's Starscream?"

"Somewhere's in the Indian ocean, the Navy requested his help for something"

"And he placed Soundwave as second in his place"

"Exactly"

Just then the three leaders stepped out and as soon as they saw Faireborn they knew something was up

"What's wrong Marissa?"

"Do you guys remember the Kerenai's?"

"Yes they named us...oh no don't tell us"

"That's exactly what I'm telling you guys, something happened and the station exploded they were the only ones unable to make it off, Karen's in the back seat and we will be able to help raise her even after she's old enough that you guys can start to handle her every day needs after all you guys are huge robots and she's human so she'll sometimes need someone who's human and understands what she's going through especially when she hits puberty"

"We'll accept all the help we can get, but first we're going to have to set up a room for her we were only partially prepared for this and we don't quite have everything set up"

"What exactly do you guys need and I'll see about getting it for you"

"Mainly milk formula and a few things for when she starts teething, we were mainly expecting us to take over when she was older but we did by a crib just in case but it's not built"

"Basically you still need a few basic things prepared before she can go to her new room, it's okay she'll be safe in the car seat for a few hours until you're ready to put her in her room, besides she's asleep"

"Has she been checked out by a doctor yet?"

"Yes she has and she's okay"

The Cybertronians made quick work of getting Karen's room ready and soon enough they were ready for their new family member. Over the next five years the EDC helped the Cybertronians raise Karen especially during her first two years but when she was five she requested to learn self defense so they started to teach her Karate and that's when they discovered that Karen had powers. Back when Karen's parents went to a planet as part of their EDC duties they drank the water and normally that would have been fine but it wasn't safe for a foreign pregnant woman to drink the water because no one knew what the affects would be, however they didn't know her mom was pregnant at the time so she drank the water and discovered a month later that she was pregnant and by that time it was too late


	2. Chapter 2

"Okay Karen you're going to have to get extra training in order to control your abilities and we'll also design a necklace that should also help"

"Thanks Prowl, but where will I get the extra training?"

"The military, originally we were going to start sending you off when you were ten per the President's orders but due to your abilities you're going to have to go in five years early, however you are  _not_  going to get pilot training until you're old enough to start training in the civilian sector it's for everyone's safety and that's period"

"I know, everything has been either for my safety or the safety of others I've known that since I was four...Prowl what happened to my birth parents?"

(Sighs) "I guess you have a right to know, we were wondering when you would ask actually, your parents were EDC officers at a station when something happened that caused it to explode, they stayed on the station to minimize what damage they could giving you to another officer so that you could make it back to Earth alive, all of this happened when you were two months old"

"I see"

Karen went to her room and processed what happened over the next several days and it was not a good situation with her newly discovered powers but finally she calmed down and actually talked to her adoptive family and both sides agreed that whenever she was home they would talk about her birth parents but for the moment they now had a necklace for Karen and a date for her to leave for training

"Who gets me first?"

"The Marines, now then some of what you'll be learning will cross train with most of the branches but there will also be things that won't cross train but all the military branches will know what you've already been trained in so that you're not trained again in something you already know. After the Marines you have school so you'll do training in the summers and then afterwords maintenance training after the main training, and some of the training will include special forces"

"I understand, so when will I leave for Marine training?"

"Two days"

"Understood...man I'm going to get it as an obvious kid training with eighteen and nineteen year olds, sometimes seventeen if given parental permission"

"The Marines at Paris Island will keep things under control they've already received word about your coming arrival and situation that forces you to come early, they get a yearly briefing on you actually in case something like this happens that forces you to start training early"

"That's actually good to know because now I know that they know about me and what I might currently need considering my age"

"Yes, but they will also treat you like a regular recruit for the most part but they know better than to push it initially"

"Works for me"

Two days later Karen was on the bus headed for Paris Island and everyone else was curious about the kid but didn't ask questions initially figuring that they either made a mistake or had family at Paris Island and this was the only way to visit them. When they arrived at Paris Island and saw the kid being treated as a recruit though that's when the problems for Karen started, though the Drill Instructors did try to keep things to a minimum, and part of that was the fact that Karen wasn't allowed to do certain things due to her age and size, part was that they were strict about bullying and hazing that was done to any recruit, and the last part of it was that Karen was given special hours to learn how to control her new found abilities in private not only so that no one was accidentally hurt but also so as to not fuel anything else about being given special treatment just because she was a kid, though all of the recruits kept quiet during swimming lessons because they actually approved of her learning how to swim at a young age but that was the only thing they approved of

"Instructor Grayson I know I'm getting firearms training but what exactly am I being allowed to learn?"

"Just the handgun for now, rifles and bigger guns will have to wait until you're a bit older and taller"

"What does my age and size have to do with anything?"

"With age comes size and with size comes muscle and muscle strength if trained and conditioned properly"

"Oh, my arms won't be able to handle the rifles yet because of how short I am and as such I don't really have the muscles required to hold up the rifle properly"

"There's also the fact that your arms grow as your legs grow and you also don't have the proper arm length to properly hold the rifle"

"I get it, it's another thing that I'm restricted on for everyone's safety"

"Exactly, but don't worry in a year or two you'll be learning about weapons, just don't expect a lot of people to understand or like it"

"Don't worry I understand, I'm pretty young for training like I am, as far as I understand even my fellow EDC kids don't get this kind of training"

"Exactly, they do get some training by qualified instructors but you're a special case, they have to wait until they're the correct age to get military training, but weapons training begins typically at about age seven for the rest of the EDC kids and everyone starts with the handguns, every make and model too because you never know when you won't have access to a standard model that you practice on regularly so knowing how to use other makes and models will help you in the long run"

"They also get self defense training starting at about age six, age five if requested but for me it's actually mandatory I know how to defend myself from a young age, including methods only military personnel use"

"You're a high risk victim aren't you?"

"In regards to kidnapping yeah I am very high risk thus the reason why I need all the training I can get should anything actually happen"

"Well graduation starts in about two weeks and then you're going home, since you've started your training so early you aren't allowed to deploy until you're eleven originally you were going to be on summer deployments immediately but because of your age..."

"Don't worry I understand and to be honest waiting until I'm eleven will actually help me in the long run because I will still be a kid but I won't be as young as before and I  _might_  be more easily accepted due to the fact that I am at least a little closer to age to join up with parental permission then now and besides even then I think you'll start me on Coast Guard missions more than likely"

"Yeah you're probably right"

"Plus I can't really do any Air Force training until I turn sixteen"

"Ah the whole wait until you can qualify for a pilots license in the civilian world"

"Exactly, and it makes sense too because by that time I will have most likely finished growing having hit puberty"

"Then it's perfectly understandable that they have decided to wait to train you in the piloting aspect of the Air Force, though I bet there are other things they might teach you"

"True enough, but for now like you said in two weeks I graduate and then go home until it's time for school, then I will only be allowed summer training which means my training period will be accelerated a bit"

"Where will you be heading next?"

"I have no idea to be honest"

"Okay, well at least when you qualify for your pilots license you won't have to really do much pilot training except in special circumstance like with the Coast Guard where they have special requirements and other specialty choppers and planes amongst the armed forces"

"True enough"

So two weeks later Karen graduates with the rest of her class and goes home to simply spend time with her family and continue her self defense training getting ready to join school in the fall. She also showed her family her improved control over her abilities

"Wow you've improved so much just by having a little bit of military training"

"Yeah, I think part of it is that I have to have extreme discipline when in the armed service so I applied that to my control over my abilities...unfortunately it's not perfect yet"

"Hey from what we've discovered your control will improve with both practice and age, and part of that is because your powers will basically grow with you"

"Oh didn't know that"

"That's alright we only recently discovered that ourselves, but you've already made great strides in getting your abilities under control you only missed three targets this time instead of all five"

"You have a point it's not much of an improvement but it is an improvement and if I remember correctly even with the targets I missed I didn't hit anyone else instead"

"See you understand better than you probably thought you would"

"So relax for the rest of the time and then off to school in the fall?"

"Exactly, though your self defense training is going to continue probably for the rest of your life...or well a good portion of your life depending on how your health is as you age"

"Agreed, oh can I use the range for shooting practice?"

"What are you shooting?"

"Well I found myself most comfortable with a Glock 19 but of course you'll make sure I can handle all the other handguns as well"

"I'm surprised you don't like the Glock 17 that seems to be the most popular Glock"

"Didn't fit well in my hand, part of that might have been my age and my preferences might change as I grow but for now it's the Glock 19 that I'm most comfortable with"

"You know that when you officially join the military you'll have to use a Beretta M9 or Sig Sauer M11"

"Actually I think you should read my military contract a bit closer you'll find out a surprising fact"

Karen leaves to practice her shooting while her family looks at her contract and discovers that she would be allowed to use whatever weapon she was most comfortable with no matter the make and model, the reason why was because of the fact that she would be so used to so many different weapons it was best for her to use a weapon she was most comfortable with because it was going to be her back up piece even if she served in the front lines

"Okay the President must really like her if he's allowing that"

Marissa speaks up then realizing that the Cybertronians hadn't known a certain aspect of EDC kids going into the service

"Actually that contract is for all EDC kids when they join the military, the reason why is because except for a few people the first time someone will handle a service pistol is in the military so they aren't familiar with the different makes and models of handguns in the first place but EDC kids are exposed to shooting from a young age and as such exceptions need to be made when it comes to the service pistol, the rifles not so much"

"And because we make sure that they know every make and model even if they're forced to use a service pistol they haven't touched in a while it won't matter to them because they already know the weapon system"

"Exactly Optimus, now then I give Karen an hour before she's done with the shooting range and then I think she'll either decide to relax for the day or do self defense training before relaxing but either way she's just about done with training for the day"

"And we now officially have a new routine to get used to at least until she completes her basic military training"

"By the time she goes into spec ops training she'll be fourteen years old at the rate we're going"

Everyone pauses at that thought and realizes exactly what Prowl was thinking

"Um we might want to talk to the President about upping the time line in regards to her basic training"

"Well he did mention accelerated programs for the summer since we have to keep her in school, but maybe she can get her basic training in before school starts because some of this crosses over to the other branches correct?"

"Yes and since she's not going to be able to learn how to fly the planes until she's sixteen the Air Force has decided she can do the rest of her basic training before we get to them and that includes spec ops training"

"Maybe we can combine the two because those skills will also interact between the branches"

"Wait are you saying you want Karen fully trained within three years?"

"Yes Captain Faireborn that's exactly what we're proposing"

"What about her?"

Suddenly another voice speaks up because Karen had forgotten a few things and overheard enough of the conversation to understand what was going on

"Yes what about me Optimus?"

"Karen..."

"You're making plans without even asking me about it"

"We wanted to discuss it between ourselves before asking, we would never push you Karen surely you know that"

"Indeed I do, and besides while I was doing basic training with the Marines I was sort of wondering the same thing, especially considering I won't be able to touch several of the weapons for a few years and the planes and helicopters are also off the list, even though I already make a pretty decent mechanic if you ask me"

"You've only begun your training young lady"

"Yeah and who was it that fixed Rumble yesterday while both you and First Aid were in surgery fixing up Perceptor and Wheeljack was also unavailable?"

That gave everyone pause at that

"Karen how long have you secretly been studying and practicing?"

"Um...since I was about four, I even helped at Paris Island when given the chance don't know why they didn't tell you guys though"

"Okay, now then Karen since we can't finish the discussion without you what do  _you_ want to do in regards to your training?"

"I want to accelerate my training as much as possible especially considering that what I learn in one branch can either be completely applied to another or with a few modifications depending on the branch. I know for a fact that for the Coast Guard when I do Rescue Swimmer training I need to be taught a bit more than what the Marines taught me, I have no clue what the Army, Navy or Air Force requires of me in regards to swimming but at least I have the basics down...sort of"

"What exactly do you mean by sort of?"

"I'm better without equipment than with though I can swim with full gear on, just don't expect me to be as fast or able to hold my body up for as long, and I was on a extremely light pack because of my age and current limitations, I'm also not very graceful either but I can stay afloat long enough to get from one side of the pool to the other, and that's including the middle of the pool I might add, though I got extra swimming lessons because of my age and the fact that there were some things the Marine DI's kept me from due to my age and size...not my fault I'm not quite tall enough for the obstacle course yet but give me a few years and I'll be able to do it"

"So you want to finish what basic training before you start school and then go through an accelerated program for special operations training for what you can until you're old enough to handle the larger weapons?"

"Exactly, and I think I should go for the Coast Guard next but that's up to you guys and besides I can't do any Air Force training until I turn sixteen because of the requirement I have to qualify for my pilots license in the civilian world first"

"No you have to be  _old enough_ to qualify for a pilots license in the civilian world, there's a difference"

"Okay you have a point...um why can't I do basic training with the Air Force until I can qualify as a pilot in the first place? I know that there are plenty of other jobs in the Air Force that I could learn in the meantime"

"We know but that was the decision of the Air Force and we won't go against them"

"Okay, well in the meantime I still have a lot of training to go through"

For the next three years they fell into a routine of Karen finishing her basic training in all military branches that allowed her to and then went on to what Special Operations training she was allowed too, for Pararescue training because she had the basics down already and a few other things all she needed was some advanced medical training that she would need as what most people called PJ's. The routine that the family fell into after she started school was that she would go to school during the year and then cram what training was required in the summer, by the time she was seven she had gone through all the training she had needed to in both the regular military and spec ops so all she needed now was maintenance training and some of that included doing regular missions with the Coast Guard as either a rescue swimmer or boat team member


	3. Chapter 3

"So during the summer I help the Coast Guard and during the school year I concentrate on school?"

"Unless an emergency situation pops up...you're basically considered a reserve soldier, though the President doesn't want you on the front lines unless absolutely necessary if it doesn't involve Rescue Swimming until you're at least eleven, maybe twelve depending on the situation"

"School already knows the situation?"

"Yep, but you still have two more years before you're allowed to carry at school, no exceptions"

"Why wait until we're nine though?"

"We have no idea, but that's the rule and the school is sticking to it...though I think part of that is that the school wants the kids to have at least two years of handgun training before allowing them to carry as a safety precaution, you'll have a little bit more because of your situation"

"So when does rifle training begin?"

"Rifle training begins next year, and you're going back to the Marines for that, the other branches will make sure you qualify if they have a different rifle but it's not very likely and the Marines make sure that everyone passes a basic rifle course no matter what position you're going into so that if the situation calls for it you can simply pick up a rifle and be able to defend yourself and others"

"Is that when I'll also get sniper training?"

"Exactly"

"So next summer then, for now though I have school to focus on"

"Exactly, oh and by the way the school does allow EDC kids to use their self defense training from the beginning if deemed necessary so if something happens and you need your self defense training you can use it"

"Even though I have more training then most?"

"You have the same amount of training as any other seven year old who started at five, but you  _aren't_  allowed to use your special abilities unless it's our enemies is that understood?"

"Completely Rodimus"

"Now then Captain Faireborn wants to talk to about some training none of us have thought about not even the military but might  _just_  save your life one day so go to the sparring room to meet her"

Karen goes to the sparring room and sees Marissa holding a plastic knife practicing on some wooden dummies

"Karen today you're going to learn how to fight with a knife because you never know when that might come in handy, the main reason why the military hasn't thought of it is mainly because of your age and the fact that they have no clue what training you currently have in hand to hand combat. Now then the plastic knives are  _exactly_  like the knives currently in use in the military now but they won't hurt you like the real deal"

"But I'll still be able to feel it just in case"

"Exactly Karen it's really the only way for you to learn without getting yourself killed"

An hour later Karen had died more times then she could count but even she could tell that she was slowly improving at least in regards to not losing the knife in the first place

"Okay Karen time for a break, and I will continue these lessons until I deem you proficient enough to not get yourself killed within five minutes, after that we'll decide  _together_  if you want to advance your training any further to smaller knives and maybe even a few knife tricks that might save your or another persons life"

"So same time tomorrow then?"

"Exactly same time tomorrow"

The next day school started and on the first day of school trouble started, and not by any fault of any of the faculty or students...at least not intentionally. No one knew it but over the summer some people had illegally entered the school and messed with the electrical wiring, however they hadn't left any signs of tampering so when one of the teachers used a projector as part of class a fire started forcing the whole school to evacuate, and it was even more dangerous then normal because the short circuiting happened in multiple rooms at once due to how the intruders had tampered with the electrical wiring in the first place. It took twenty minutes for the fire to even be contained and another thirty before the fire was out and by that time school was officially canceled until further notice and families were starting to arrive to take their kids home, though later that day on the news the fire chief that had responded said one positive thing about the fire

"At least no one was harmed due to the fact that everyone made it out quickly and safely, now then we're still investigating the cause of the fire but I do believe that no one was hurt is good news"

"Karen the school administration says it's trying to work something out with a neighboring district so it will be a few days before you can start school"

"Well that's kind of to be expected but like the fire chief said at least no one got hurt, and no I didn't use my abilities everyone made it out safely on their own...though I might have made sure I was the last person out of the classroom besides the teacher"

"That's what we're getting from several other EDC kids too, either that or if there were multiple EDC kids in one room one person was first so that they could lead as much as possible while one was last so that there weren't any stragglers"

"Wonder how that was resolved?"

"Quick eye contact along with rock, paper, scissors"

"Wonder what the teachers thought about that?"

"Actually the rock, paper, scissors was played before school and the quick eye contact was simply a confirmation that they were going with the original plan of who went first"

"Oh didn't know about that"

"Exactly, now then are you up for some knife training?"

"Yes I've been trying to work out my stress in other ways but unfortunately I haven't managed to succeed in doing so, mainly because I haven't actually really been allowed to do physical activity to release the tension even though I told you several times that I was fine Ratchet"

"Forgive me for wanting to make sure your lungs were clear considering where your classroom was in relation to the nearest exit"

"Okay you do have me there"

"And you're cleared by the way, just finally confirmed that so you can indeed burn off your adrenaline which is still surging in you even now"

Karen and Faireborn leave so that Karen could get in knife practice and that's when they learned that when Karen was overcharged on adrenaline she made moves so much quicker and sharper than before that if she had to be in the situation for real she would probably come out the winner within fifteen seconds of having her hand on a blade if they were that close, no longer than two minutes depending on how strong the opponent was

"Okay...Karen...I never...want to fight you...when you're overcharged on adrenaline, you're dangerous whenever you have that much adrenaline in your system"

"Surprised me too, Marissa what exactly are my options once I turn eighteen? I already know about the military because that's what I've been training in for a long time but what other options are there for someone like me?"

"Oh Karen there are plenty of options, but you don't have to make those decisions yet, you still have time to discover what your dream really is"

"Thanks for telling me that, I know I shouldn't have doubted it but due to the fact that all I've been doing since I was five is training in the military I guess I was starting to doubt a little bit"

"It's okay to mention your doubts because I guess we have been pushing you a bit hard, but don't forget part of that was your own doing"

"I know, it's just part of the reason why I made my request was because of the fact that I needed to learn how to control my powers and fast and my control has improved as I have aged but the military discipline has been a huge help with that"

"We know Karen, we've always known that and we also know that we've put high expectations on you but part of why we were discussing the accelerated training option was because of who you are. You may legally be known as Karen Kerenai but several people within the EDC are also calling you Karen of Cybertron due to the fact that the Cybertronians have raised you since you were two months old"

"I never thought of that"

"I know which is why I decided to let you know, Karen you are so used to your Cybertronian family that you don't realize just how abnormal that is"

"No I know it's not normal but I just don't really think about it because like you said I  _am_  so used to it it's become second nature to me"

"Exactly, now then have you worked out enough of your adrenaline you can do normal kid things or do you still need to work things out with shooting practice or hand to hand fighting?"

"I am most definitely in the mood to watch a movie"

"Then come on let's go find an age appropriate movie for you to watch"

Three weeks later school began once again because it took that long to come to an agreement with a neighboring school district in regards to using one of their abandoned buildings as a school for the displaced students and teachers. It originally wasn't supposed to take that long but things got complicated and everyone wanted to make sure that this time nothing was wrong with the wiring so there were a lot of inspections under tight scrutiny, that was actually why it took so long to come to an agreement in the first place because the two groups were arguing about who would pay the inspectors due to the fact that both districts had experienced budget cuts in recent years and neither were sure that they alone could afford to pay so they had to work out a payment ratio for the inspection and also a lease agreement had to be made due to the fact that no one quite knew how long it would take to rebuild the school


	4. Chapter 4

"Though for you guys this means that school will last an extra three weeks to make up for what you've missed"

"Oh the district knows that but they've got plans for the last three weeks apparently, and no Karen I can't tell you because even I don't exactly know what those plans are, the only reason why I was told is because of the fact that I can legally sign any paperwork regarding you and since I am a Captain in the EDC the other kids also fall in my jurisdiction even though it's very slightly"

"What about my military training?"

"Don't worry the Marines already know what's happening, and besides you've already passed most of their requirements already you just need to relearn how to swim with full gear and get through the obstacle course and basic rifle lessons considering the fact that it's known that every Marine is a rifleman though I have no idea where that quote comes from"

"Okay then, well best get some sleep since I have school starting tomorrow, Jazz could you give me a ride tomorrow?"

"No problem"

Part of the reason why Karen asked Jazz to take her was a security measure established when she started school only a year earlier. Due to who her family was and no one knew when an attack might happen it had been decided that only a member of her family and that included Captain Faireborn or another EDC officer would take her to school so that if something  _did_  happen they were already trained on how to react. Another measure was that the same person never took her two times in a row and they also never took the same route two times in a row they always switched things around as much as possible but Karen could always ask a family member to drive her in but even she knew better than to ask the same person two times in a row, the reason why she had asked Jazz though was because he had recently been hurt and while she could see that he was fine he hadn't been out since then so she wanted him to drive her to school for her own reassurance. The next day Karen finally starts the new school year and things actually were pretty normal for the most part after they finally managed to get school started, one time school was closed early because of a pipe burst but that wasn't the fault of either district because it turned out that the inspection had missed how weak the pipe was in one section through no fault of their own due to how  _small_  the crack in the pipe was, another two times were because of snow storms and one time was because they simply lost electricity during the spring because someone hit a telephone pole knocking it and the wires down

"So how was your final day of school Karen?"

"It was great, and I'm glad you couldn't tell us about the last three weeks Captain Faireborn because they were fun and I got to enjoy it with the rest of my classmates because of it"

"I'm glad you did"

"So when are the Marines picking me up?"

"Tomorrow, once you're done with Marine training you'll be going to Alaska for the rest of the summer and depending on the situation also during part of winter"

"Coast Guard?"

"Exactly, now then it's a lot busier with crab season but that doesn't mean trouble can't strike during the summer but it's a lot slower in regards to boating issues but hiking goes up"

"I understand, now then President wants me in on crab season?"

"Maybe, but that depends on how things are for the Coast Guard when your summer vacation ends"

"Okay I think I understand what's going on here I'm mainly going to be there for the summer but if things pick up I'll be staying for crab season at least"

"Yes, if that happens we'll make sure you have school work sent to you on a regular basis and a place has already been arranged for you to stay at while you're up there"

"An EDC officer?"

"No actually a Coast Guard family that will be moving up there just as you're heading up there"

"Why give me to a family that is also trying to get established?"

"Simple, because the young family was already living in Alaska when the father joined right out of high school, he married his childhood friend and they had a kid while he was training and then went to Florida for six months as part of his extended Rescue Swimmer training, they're finally returning home as part of his first official posting"

"Oh, that actually makes sense then, they're already used to Alaska they just need to move into a new home is all"

"Exactly, and you'll also be a great baby sitter for them when needed"

"Except I'm not old enough to baby sit"

"Sorry I explained that wrong, whenever you're at home you'll be helping the mom out with basic tasks and maybe watching over the baby for a few minutes while the mom gets some things she might need for feeding or to get dinner ready, small basic things"

"Oh that makes a lot more sense"

The next day she boarded the bus to go to Paris Island and again the recruits were shocked that she was treated as a fellow recruit but then they started to discover that there were differences with her for reasons they didn't understand

"You will complete this obstacle course to the best of your ability, you are not expected to complete it like the rest of your fellow Marines but you will complete it as much as possible or I will fail you to another platoon"

"Ma'am yes Ma'am"

Soon enough she got into a routine and then during a run she suddenly tripped and realized that she might have broken an ankle so immediately after the run and before the obstacle course she went up to a Drill Instructor and mentioned the ankle, in as direct a way as possible

"Ma'am this recruit cannot continue onto the obstacle course ma'am"

"Are you refusing to do what you are supposed to do Marine?"

"Ma'am this recruit is not refusing to obey orders ma'am"

"Then why is this recruit currently not obeying orders?"

"Ma'am this recruit suspects a broken ankle ma'am"

The Drill Instructor has two of her fellow recruits get her to the sickbay and they discover that she had indeed broken her ankle but it was not only a clean break but a simple one at that and would heal within six weeks, afterwords she continued the relative training she needed but didn't go to Alaska like she was supposed to instead she went back home because of how close it was to the beginning of the school year. The family once again fell into a routine of Karen going to school during the school year and helping the Coast Guard in the summer, though she was signed on for a month long mission with the Marines after a Tsunami hit the Philippines the summer before her eleventh birthday but that was because they needed the man power and that was the  _only_  reason she was called in, later that year she even visited a fellow Marine who had been in a training accident that was on life support but brain dead to say goodbye to him because he was one of the few people who actually treated her like a soldier from the beginning instead of a kid. Then everything changed once she was fourteen, one day during the fall she had just finished school when she knew something was up. Karen ran to the med bay as soon as she got home having received word of an incident involving her family, then again having been picked up by Captain Faireborn in an EDC car instead of a family member was a big hint

"Ratchet how is he?"

(sighs) "I'm afraid we've lost him Karen"

"But the monitors..."

"Do you remember three years ago when you visited the military hospital to visit a fellow soldier after his accident?"

"I get it, the machines are keeping him alive but he's essentially brain dead"

"It's a bit more complicated than that, you know the insides and outs of us Cybertronians which has allowed you to save our lives a time or two, Powerglide is missing three essential pieces that would allow Powerglide to function and be well Powerglide, the best thing to do is to simply let him go and then give him a proper Cybertronian funeral"

Karen looked at Optimus, Rodimus and Megatron and saw that they all agreed with Ratchet and in a way Karen did too, but then she got an idea

"Ratchet I become sixteen in two years which is the minimum age requirements to become a licensed pilot in this state correct?"

"Yes what of it?"

"Well I was wondering that if I become a licensed pilot it would be the first step to become a pilot for the forest fire services, once I become certified to become a pilot for the fire service I would be able to use my piloting skills to stop fires. That means that if you modify Powerglide to become a SEAT or Single Engine Air Tanker I could fly him on missions and he'd still be able to help people, even if he's no longer aware of it or even technically alive his memory would be because sometimes people name their planes and I would keep his as Powerglide, though you would have to explain that I had your permission either that or give the people in the highest authority the truth and let me decide whether or not to tell my fellow pilots the truth"

"What about your commitment to the military?"

"I'm already considered a reserve soldier have been since I was five. I can sign documents once I'm eighteen signifying that I will stay as a reserve soldier and if I explain the situation to my firefighting bosses there wouldn't be any problems because that ways they would understand my obligation to leave once a weekend a month and two weeks once a year"

"You know that could actually work, but Karen it won't take long to modify Powerglide to become a SEAT and certify him as such an airplane while it will take you two more years to even get started"

"That's something I didn't think about"

"How about this I know that Captain Faireborn has a cousin who needs a new crop duster temporarily while his old one gets a major overhaul, he knows about us and we trust him with our lives, we tell him about Powerglide and your plans and let him use Powerglide as a backup plane until you're ready to properly use him. Once you're old enough and getting ready to certify to pilot a SEAT we'll let him know that it's time to modify Powerglide into a SEAT and that's when we'll make the modifications"

"Okay let's do this"

So Marissa Faireborn gets in touch with her cousin and he accepts the responsibility of temporarily taking care of a no longer alive Powerglide until Karen was ready to go for her SEAT certification at age eighteen


	5. Chapter 5

"I just have one request of you young lady"

"What is it?"

"Become the best SEAT pilot you can be and help put one out for me, do what I was unable to do after my father died"

"I didn't realize you wanted to become a firefighter John"

"Yes I did, but after dad died I put aside my dreams to help mom run the farm, but I soon realized that I loved the farm just as much as my dream, maybe even more so because it's part of my family heritage, and over time I've realized that I wouldn't be able to handle the stress of fighting fires, learned that when I panicked during flight school and a fire had cropped up and we needed to land to let the firefighters do their jobs"

"How on earth did you ultimately become a pilot then?"

"Learned to control my actions and explained to the instructor that the fire was so much more intense than I had thought one would be, I also explained my former dream and she said that if I reacted to a fire three miles away from us it was a good thing I didn't become a firefighter pilot"

"So two years from now we come to let you know that we need to modify Powerglide to become a SEAT and I'll be the one to pilot him"

"Agreed, though I do have one request if we're going to do this, as you know to dust crops he needs to actually look like a plane that only has one engine and we can do that, however I want as much of his original parts as possible, if you need to teach me how to fix the engine, I want him as Cybertronian as possible so that all of us remember him even if he's no longer alive"

"John the mechanics will have to repair him at times, if they don't know how the engine works they could make a mistake and that could cost lives, not just the lives of people Karen is trying to save but Karen herself could be lost"

"Okay you have a point but I still want him as Cybertronian as possible before you give him to me and then once Karen's ready we'll finish the modifications to make him a SEAT"

"Then if we're going to do this we want Karen to be part of it because we'll make sure that the regular mechanics can handle fixing him but I have a feeling that Karen wants to be a part of this as much as possible am I right?"

"You're most certainly correct Ratchet, but first...Prowl, Jazz, Barricade, Soundwave, Ravage, Steeljaw get yourselves back on the berths before I weld you there myself, you guys are not fit to be standing up and moving about, heck I don't even know how Prowl is even in here considering he's currently blind, and what happened to Omega Supreme anyways?"

"Omega returned to Cybertron injured but well enough to travel, First Aid went with him to make sure, how did you know something happened to Omega anyways?"

"Captain Faireborn gave me a video of today's battle that's how, now then since we need to modify Powerglide we don't have to rush so first I'm going to make sure Ravage and Steeljaw get fixed because those two are the easiest to deal with, and before you ask how I knew you six were up and about when you shouldn't have been I have one word for you...powers"

"They've advanced that much?"

"Either that or because I live with you guys they're that attune to you, you know that I've been able to sense for six months now"

"Didn't expect them to be that accurate though in so short a time"

"Like I said part of that might be the fact that I live with you, have since I was two months old"

"Well for now we've got Cybertronians to repair and then..."

"Yeah and then, Mr. Faireborn do you also want to be part of the modifications since I have absolutely no idea what is needed to become a crop duster?"

"I would like that as well, you know you may be losing a family member while I gain a plane but the world lost a protector today and I will never forget that"

"Well first we'll have to disconnect him from the machines and then...then we'll repair who we can"

Soon after Powerglide was taken off the machines he turned gray, though this was also done after his final  _forced_  transformation

"We'll paint him to his original color after we're done as part of the remodeling but first like Karen said time to repair some Cybertronians who need repairs"

John leaves for the moment knowing that his cousin would call him back once they were ready to start making the modifications to Powerglide so that he could become a SEAT eventually but for the moment would be a crop duster. It would take three days to finish the repairs because of the fact that all of them were grieving and actually being given a chance to grieve, not to mention they had to fabricate a few parts for the repairs this time but finally during the weekend it was time to make the modifications to Powerglide that would first transform him into a crop duster in preparation for becoming a SEAT in four years

"So how do we begin John?"

"Come on I'll show you how it's done and to be honest he won't need too many modifications and will still be his mostly Cybertronian self, in fact we can't really use what would be considered his engine anymore because it's too alien, but we can modify that into propellers and I'll show you guys a few more modifications I need so that he can become a crop duster, eventually he will be able to become a SEAT because I studied what SEAT's look like so I can instantly have him modified to become one...or well actually the fire services would do that but for the most part a SEAT is a crop duster that's been modified to fight fires and the modifications are extremely slight modifications at that"

Together they managed to rebuild Powerglide before Karen went back to school so John simply flew back to his fields in Powerglide, though the job wasn't entirely complete because while they had repainted him in his original colors and given him a tail number they didn't know quite yet whether or not the modifications to make him a crop duster first would work until John tested it out, afterwords more modifications would be made as needed to make Powerglide a crop duster and then later a SEAT

"Karen you looked upset as you left school on Friday what's wrong?"

"Sorry just received some bad news about some family, due to the fact that it was Captain Faireborn who took me home I already knew something had happened, I just didn't realize how bad it was until I was home"

"That's right, Captain Faireborn of the EDC might take you to school but for some reason she never takes you home, I also now remember that your parents are somehow part of the EDC even though no one will give me a straight answer"

"The reason why she doesn't pick me up is a long standing agreement between her and my family as a means to keep me from panicking or worrying when it isn't needed"

"So as soon as you saw her you knew something had happened"

"Exactly, I have to have a system for reasons I can't explain but it's because of the system that I know how things are going with my family"

"Though how can your family afford so many different cars?"

(Chuckles) "I'm afraid that's our secret, now then can I go to class now?"

"Sure Karen"

School started normal but then at Phys Ed she learned that things were about to take a turn because there was a self defense section that had been added just two years earlier and people liked it so it was continued, what surprised Karen the most was that it was her sensei that was teaching the course. The sensei was known to the EDC and the Cybertronians so she had understood why Karen needed to be pushed as much as possible as quickly as possible in most self defense moves though she did leave the knife training to Faireborn who could teach her more practical moves that she might need in the battlefield one day. The rest of the class just wondered why she left her shoes off and in the locker room until they saw the mat and the person in a strange outfit, they were also a bit surprised to see Karen bowing to the person and the person bowing back as well

"Sensei Hunter I was not expecting to see you at school"

"I know Karen I've been teaching this course for the past two years, but since you were not at the right grade to see me you couldn't have known...Karen as I'm sure you've already noticed there are some other people here as well that you might not recognize"

"Indeed sensei I had seen them"

"They are here for a reason Karen, one which will be revealed to you later on in the class"

So the group was started on the basics including Karen whom everyone noticed was deliberately going at a slow speed and was looking like she was really concentrating on keeping her movements slow and calculated, that day was simple blocks and punches. Afterwords the sensei called Karen foreword

"Karen, katas please"

They soon saw Karen going through more movements then they had been taught at a slightly faster speed then before but still very noticeable to the naked eye and she went through several different moves and they could tell different katas because she always went back to attention before starting again. Then the sensei called foreword another person whom Karen didn't recognize and that's when the observers were suddenly a lot closer than before and that's when Karen knew what was going on

"Sensei why do this before the end of the course?"

"This is so I can have you by my side for the rest of the course Kerenai"

Suddenly the start was called and the students finally realized just how advanced Karen was because she was going so much faster then before that they couldn't keep up, suddenly the sensei was down and Karen backed off and a point was called. The next fight Karen lost but she then won the next two and that's when the fight was called and both people were sweating in the end

"Well done Karen, you've advanced to the final level and achieved the highest ranking in black belt and can now be a sensei to other students when you come to the dojo though I know and understand just why you don't come very often"

"Thank you sensei"

Just then the bell was rung which meant that it was time for the next class so the students quickly got dressed and the rest of the day actually ended up normal compared to Phys Ed. After school Karen decided not to practice any of her other skills or even do more hand to hand practice, instead she decided to do something she hardly allowed herself to do which was simply have a vacation and went to the movies with a few of her fellow EDC kids, part of this was that Karen knew that she needed a break just as much as any other person however she didn't allow herself to be a kid or teenager very often due to the fact that she had been raised by the Cybertronians and as such she had to be stronger, faster, and smarter than even EDC kids in case she was ever abducted by her family's enemies, so basically she allowed herself to be a kid or teenager about once every three to four months and never during the summer when she was doing Coast Guard assignments, though there was that one time her temporary foster family forced her to go to a game one Saturday that she had off when she was twelve and in Florida. Her vacations only ever lasted a day, two if her family was lucky but never more than that though they knew she could really use a week or two off she would never allow herself to until she had an actual job and mandatory vacation periods

"So how was the movie Karen?"

"It was great Mike, though you know as well as I that this is only a short reprieve"

"I know and for the record I hate it"

"I know you do and in a way so do I but unfortunately for everyone involved it has to be this way"

"But why?"

"Mike your security clearance has already told you everything it can, what it can't tell you is something I also can't tell you and that's for your own safety, for everyone's safety in all honesty"

"Just what do your parents do that's so dangerous though, it states that your security clearance is so high because what your family does puts you at higher risk then most for kidnapping and that there's something unique about you that an enemy could want as well which is also a mystery to the rest of us EDC kids"

"Again, if it's not in your files I'm not telling, just knowing the truth about me could get you kidnapped or worse killed and I can't afford that Mike, my mind would break if that happened"

"What makes you so sure of that?"

"Because it almost happened before but that's all you're getting out of me and that's period"

The next day they went back to the school grind but this time things were different in the middle of her math class the teacher suddenly stopped her lecture

"Can I help you gentlemen?"

Everyone turned and Karen instantly knew what was up and simply grabbed her things and stood up

"How soon?"

"Five minutes"

"Base orders?"

"No Executive orders"

(Sharp intake of breath) " _He's_  the one who gave those orders?"

"Yes ma'am"

"Understood, three minutes then"

Karen left and was ready in three minutes and then left the school. Most of her class was wondering just who the guys in uniform were but also realized that they weren't going to be getting any answers, not that they could identify the uniforms anyways because most people didn't know what a uniform looked like, or which branch was using which uniform, what they didn't know was that not only did Karen recognize the uniform she also recognized the pin that was on the person

"What do the Recon Marine's need me for? I already know that the President gave you guys permission, had to of because of the fact that I'm still currently in school and he's never interrupted my schooling before, he even made sure I was back in time for school when the Tsunami hit the Philippines the summer before I turned eleven"

"As you know we've been having on going operations in South Africa recently because of all the civil wars that have been going on lately, we've recently lost two units on a routine mission with one of the government's. We're teaming up with a team of SEAL's to rescue them but our sniper got injured in a training accident recently and we don't have any other sniper's to help, considering your situation it was decided that you would be the one to team up with the SEAL sniper to cover us during the op"

"Understood, have sniper gear ready for me at the base?"

"Already on the plane Lt."

"Okay then let's do this, full debrief once in the air?"

"Yes, that's the only way we can do it because we don't know how long our men got"

"One question why are we teaming up with the SEAL's?"

"Because they also recently lost a unit and their unit is with ours so we simply decided to combine forces to rescue all of our men at once"

"Okay then, that actually makes sense"

They soon arrive at the plane and then head off to the mission where Karen was given a full debrief, five hours later they were on the ground and ready for action but it took another two hours to get to their positions

"Okay Lt. we're going to provide cover fire but we have to take out the front guards first when I say boom you fire one shot is that clear?"

"Got it"

Karen waits for the mental countdown ready and waiting and as soon as she hears the word she pulls the trigger and the two front guards are taken down no problems

"Okay, now all we can do is wait to provide any cover fire that's needed"

Fortunately things went off without a hitch and the hostages were all rescued and a quick evac was arranged. Over all it only took Karen a day and a half to complete the mission but since she was tired after she got back, and was running a slight fever it was decided that she would stay home for the rest of the school day and the next just in case she caught something while on the mission and her school was only given the explanation that she had been needed for something and that if they needed to know more they would find out but if they didn't then they weren't to ask any questions. As it turned out Karen had unknowingly cut herself with a thorn that had mild poison on it, but it was a poison that was non lethal to humans, just made them feverish for forty-eight hours if that. Once Karen got back to school she was simply a regular school student for the rest of the year and then once summer started she went to California for her annual Coast Guard assignment

"Sir shouldn't a kid like her be a lifeguard if that?"

"I wouldn't question orders Petty Officer because we  _do_  have orders in regards to her"

"And what are those orders sir?"

"Your orders Petty Officer are to allow me to train and go on missions with you to the fullest extent of my abilities, however I am  _not_  qualified to be a pilot so that position and the position of mechanic is closed off to me for the moment, but I can be a Rescue Swimmer, a communication person whatever else you need I can do it I am fully trained and qualified"

"Indeed you are Lt. I was just wondering how you can even have annual Coast Guard assignments considering the situation you are in"

"That Commander is between me and my commanding officers as you full well know"

"Understood Lt., however for the moment what I want is to see you doing laps in the pool and then...I think you might need to liaison with the life guards nearby because we want them to do some specialized training that only we can provide but I haven't received any word back in over a month and we  _need_  those answers by the end of this month, there's also the fact that it will let you get to know the area from the locals which you need to do. After that I want you in the pool for laps so get you warmed up in case you have to take a swim soon"

"Understood sir, when should I be back at base?"

"I want you back by 1600 hours if at all possible, oh and you'll be staying with me for the course of the summer because I volunteered"

"Yes sir"

Karen went to the life guard station and explained the situation and found out that the only reason why they hadn't gotten a reply was because the higher ups hadn't been able to be contacted until just the day before and they had agreed to it

"Now then is there anything else we need to know Lt.?"

"Actually yes I was ordered to get to know the area from the locals"

"Okay then I'll give you a basic tour and also a look at the ocean so that you can see what you're up against, and then you can explain why a fourteen year old is in the uniform of a Coast Guard member"

" _That_  is classified sir so you won't be getting any answers about that, however you can be assured that I am fully trained to the best of my abilities in all aspects except flying"

"Oh why can't you fly?"

"Not qualified in the civilian sector because I'm not old enough yet. I have orders that I have to wait until I'm old enough to go for a pilot's license in the civilian sector before I can learn to pilot for the military"

"Okay then that actually makes sense"

Karen is given the tour and is back at base by 1600 and reports to the base commander


	6. Chapter 6

"Sir the life guards agree to the training, they hadn't been able to get in contact with their superiors until just the day before for some reason and their superiors have agreed to the training so a schedule will be set up soon so that everyone can get the training in that's needed for the Coast Guard"

"Were you questioned about why you are in the Coast Guard despite your young age?"

"Yes but I mentioned that it's classified and unless you have a certain security clearance that's the truth so I didn't lie to him"

"That's true, but didn't I recently hear that EDC kids of a certain age know about you?"

"Only to a certain degree to keep them safe, but yes they do know things about me that most people even in the military doesn't but what they know is limited"

"So ready to see your temporary home?"

"Let's get home I'm hungry and I need to unpack too, even though I am part of the military I also need to actually swim in the ocean so as soon as the beaches open I'll be going to the beach"

"That's perfectly fine with me, you're technically off tomorrow but getting to know the conditions actually make sense so as long as you swim at a beach with life guards I'm perfectly fine with you going to the beach today. Just make sure you remember your limits and remember the rules about swimming"

"Don't worry I won't let myself get hypothermic and I will also make sure to eat and then wait before swimming, don't worry I've been with the Coast Guard since I was a kid I know what I'm doing"

"I know sorry this is the first time I'm fostering someone even temporarily so I'm a bit nervous and have forgotten your training even though I shouldn't"

"It's okay, back to base tomorrow?"

"Yes you're on duty tomorrow, have fun Kerenai"

Karen went to the beach once she knew it was safe and there were life guards and simply enjoyed the day swimming and actually adapting to the changing ocean, actually getting caught in a rip current once which she knew what to do and easily got herself out of the situation after which she decided to stay out of the water long enough to get lunch and simply get to know the local area a bit more. The rest of her summer was spent either at the base or occasionally going out with her temporary foster parent to either the store or another place to relax

"Well that's it for now, but soon you'll be learning the ropes in regards to flying"

"That won't be for two summers, I turn fifteen in August so I'll still have a year before being able to get a pilot's license in the civilian sector and I'll mainly be working on flying planes, though I will also get a helicopter license at a later date but I'm hoping to become a SEAT pilot which means I'll be in the reserves if at all possible"

"Wow I didn't know you were hoping to become a SEAT what made you think of that?"

"Oh various factors that I am not wanting to explain"

"Where do you want to work?"

"Hopefully a national park"

"Either way you'll be a good pilot, but for now it's time for you to go home"

"Indeed it is time for me to go home"

Karen went home and started school yet again but that year there was a major disruption two months in, a bomb threat happened and the students were only just evacuated in time, and everyone knew that this time it would take a lot longer to return to school because of the fact that the school damaged by fire hadn't been totaled like this one, instead there was a lot of fire damage and part of the roof needed repaired and equipment replaced when the fire happened and that took a few months but this would take at least a year to a year and a half if not longer

"Okay now what?"

"We have absolutely no idea, but we'll figure something out"

"Would our neighboring district be able to donate a building for us again? I also wonder if they would be willing"

"We simply don't know, for now you students are officially in limbo and you might end up a year behind everyone else depending on what happens over the next few days to weeks"

"Do you know if the police have any leads?"

"They do and they're actually calling in a group called NCIS"

"NCIS what could possibly have happened to bring in the Navy cops?"

"They're Navy cops?"

"Yep NCIS stands for Naval Criminal Investigative Service, basically any crime committed by Navy or Marine personnel are investigated and then arrested by NCIS, JAG or Judge Advocate General then will take over and handle things from there in their version of the court system"

"As an EDC kid you certainly know a lot"

"Trust me you have to learn things fast if you want to survive" (sighs) "I get the feeling that we're all going to be questioned soon by both the police and NCIS to see what knowledge we have of the incident and I might not be able to attend school in a normal fashion for a while depending on the situation and no you can't know what I mean, only the principal and district leaders know certain things about me for everyone's safety"

As it turned out they were indeed questioned by the local police and the NCIS once they arrived and that's when Karen was informed that due to a situation that had recently happened she was needed in the Navy as a SEAL until further notice

"Fine but I also am still a student so I  _need_  schoolwork whenever possible, the district will get things set up once we have an idea about where the rest of the students can go to school until the building is back in order but since I will be away on missions or on base I need the schoolwork and the district will give me strict deadlines that I will need to obey once we put the plan in action"

"How strict are we talking about?"

"Extremely strict, strict enough that if I have a mission the day the assignment is due I'd better make sure the work is completed and sent off at least two days in advance to make sure it gets to the school in time strict, I will have a slight extension due to the fact that since I am going to be on active duty the school need to accommodate for that but even though I will have an extension for schoolwork I will still be on a deadline and will have just as much homework as a regular student maybe a bit more because they will have no idea as to when I will be out on missions"

"Fine, by the way have you ever heard of The Masters of Freedom?"

"Yeah it's a domestic terrorist group from what I've gathered and as such if they're involved we need to get the FBI involved as well"

"That's one of the calls we're going to make however it's suspected that active duty Navy and Marine personnel are involved whenever they're state side and as such it falls under our jurisdiction"

"Don't tell me let me guess whenever I'm state side I'm going to be assisting NCIS in bringing down the organization and also bringing in proof of Navy and Marine involvement, or bringing proof that they aren't involved and as such we back out of the investigation immediately"

"Exactly, but first like I said you're needed for a SEAL mission so you'd best report to base in uniform and get further orders from there"

"Understood Agent, and for the record I am going to request government aid in the rebuilding process of my school because if government employees are involved then the government should help us rebuild"

"Don't worry that's a message I have for your district leaders, the fact that we're giving you guys aid in the form of money and manpower"

"Okay then I'm out of here so that I'm not late for duty"

As Karen left one of the agents actually asked a valid question in his mind

"Sir if it turns out that government employees  _aren't_  involved wouldn't we have wasted money and manpower?"

"Actually no because even though we don't know for a fact that Marine and Navy personnel are involved I already have proof of government involvement in the form of corrupt DEA agents"

"How so?"

"I received a coded message recently that led me to make an observation and found a known DEA agent working with a biker gang that's known to associate with this terrorist cell, and from what I can tell the DEA agent isn't undercover and I've been trained to tell those things, that and the fact that he told me to either leave the gang alone or he would kill me was a big hint and we have universal codes to identify undercover agents from any federal law enforcement now and he never gave me such a code which you are required to do even in deep cover"

"Okay then that answers my questions quite nicely, but why haven't you brought this to the attention of the DEA then?"

"Not enough proof and currently too dangerous"

"Okay how is there not enough proof?"

"Just trust me on this one okay, and if you're wondering how it's too dangerous think about the biker gang that's associated with this group and you'll know why it's too dangerous at the moment. We need more time before we can do anything"

"You're right, how well do you know Kerenai?"

"Not good enough in my mind but unfortunately all we can do is hope she survives the current mission that she's been requested for"

"Think the government will allow her to go back to school once it's rebuilt?"

"Not according to what she said"

What they didn't realize was that Karen knew that if she was being called in it was serious because not only could Coast Guard teams simply be put together at a moments notice because of the standardization throughout the fleet but the spec ops teams could if forced work with another member of their team within their military branch and undergone the same spec ops training meaning another SEAL with the SEAL team that needs it, a SWCC member, etc, granted they won't be as smooth but they could do it. Karen got into uniform and reported to base and soon found out exactly  _why_  she had been called in for the mission, part of the problem was that there had been a training accident recently that had been in the news but they didn't state just which branch of the military so she didn't even know of the possibility of being called up because so many soldiers were either injured or dead. So now that she was called she knew it might be a while because she was only called in when things were desperate and once she was called in she could be there for weeks to months at a time depending on how long they needed her to fill empty spots in the section that had called her

"Okay how long should I pack for?"

"Two weeks, maybe longer but we don't know exactly. You're going to be the sniper for the mission this time as well as the person in charge of communications"

"Understood sir"

Karen finishes the mission no problem and then for the next five months continues to go on multiple Navy missions while doing her homework and also trying to help NCIS bring down a terrorist cell, she even was actually approached by a few members of the group and none of them were Navy or Marine's but one was a known DEA agent and she managed to get inside per her orders and helped bring them down, though she wasn't actually there for the take down because she had been given orders to help a ship on a medical mission so she told the group she had to be deployed and they were taken down only three days later but her evidence was used in a court of law while she was deployed

"Hey Karen got a letter for you, it's not only coded for highest security level which only you and the Captain have but from what I can tell it also has foreign language involved as well"

Karen looks at the message and realizes that yes to the sailor it would look like foreign language but to her it was her second native language and the language was alien at that, but what she read from the alien language made her pale

"Karen what's wrong?"

"Sorry, not meant for you, it's meant for me and the Captain only, however since we weren't sure if anyone knew the code besides me and the Captain the added security measure of the foreign language was used in certain sections"

_Letter_

Karen this is the President and Rodimus Prime writing to you in conjunction with each other, first of all don't worry about Optimus or Megatron, Optimus had to go to Cybertron for a meeting and Megatron was needed in Japan for a different meeting that you knew of in advance however you should know that Soundwave, Blaster, Jazz, and Barricade have gone missing in space while dealing with Quintessons that have been hassling some of our allies recently. There's also the fact that Inferno and Red Alert have been injured in a forest fire incident where Yellow Stone National Park called for our aid because of just how big the forest fire had gotten in only six hours time. You need to tell the Captain that we're upgrading our defense level DEFCON 3 due to a situation that's developed in Africa and we don't know if we'll have to upgrade yet again at the time you get this message, if the Captain is asleep wake him up to alert him to the situation, afterwords you will stay on board for another two weeks and then you're going home to finish the school year at the temporary school and that's final, you need to be on the ground for a bit and you are to actually take a vacation this summer and are ordered to stay away from the Coast Guard unless I specifically tell you, the main reason why is because quite frankly there's nothing else for you to be trained in except as a pilot for the armed forces and you still have a year to go before you can qualify in the civilian sector

_End of letter_

"Where's the Captain?"

"He's in his quarters last I knew"

"Okay then that's where I'm headed because I have information that he needs to know"

Karen heads to the Captain's quarters and initially he isn't happy to be woken up when there obviously wasn't an emergency but once he realized that it was Karen who had woken him up he let her in knowing she wouldn't wake him up without reason

"What's going on Lt.?"

"Sir we're upgrading to DEFCON 3 until further notice due to a situation developing in Africa, I don't know the exact details of the situation all I know is something is up"

"How did you find out?"

"A coded letter that only the two of us can break and even then I would have been involved because some of it has Cybertronian in it and you can't read Cybertronian"

"And you can because it's a native language for you"

"Exactly, I grew up hearing both English and Cybertronian and I've learned to read and write in both, in fact I can even read and write Ancient Cybertronian and that's hard to do"

"So when do I lose you?"

"Two weeks, the President wants me back in the States to finish schooling for the year, I've also been given other orders which make sense seeing as how I can't fly quite yet"

"Oh yeah I was told you weren't to be put on pilot status why was that?"

"I need to qualify to become a pilot in the civilian sector first. Basically until I'm old enough to go for a license in the civilian world I'm not allowed to go for a license in the military world"

"Oh yeah you have to split your world into two"

"Exactly"

"So two weeks and then you're gone"

"Yes, but until then I am under your command like I have been since pretty much the beginning"

"Okay, for now you just finished a radar shift didn't you?"

"Yes sir I did"

"Okay then I need you to go to your quarters and get some sleep, if an emergency happens...I need you on the bridge to be a second set of eyes for me, I also might need you to man the guns from the bridge as well depending on the situation"

"Understood sir, other than that routine radar duty?"

"Exactly"

"Orders received, see you in a few hours then, and sir, you need to get more sleep yourself because if the Captain goes down that's not good, even if we have a good second-in-command ready to pick up the slack"

"I know, it's just that I've been extremely busy as of late and have lost track of time way too often in the past several days, I think I might need a minder so that I don't overdo it and simply fall asleep while on duty because I'm so tired"

"We'll think of something I'm sure of it"

"As do I, now then bed"

"Yes sir"


	7. Chapter 7

The remaining two weeks actually end peacefully and on a COD that was dropping off supplies as well as a few personnel because a new JAG was needed after the last one broke his leg in a storm and a few other personnel as well Karen got on board so that she could go home

"Is this everyone?"

"Indeed it is sir"

Karen is soon back home and finishes school once again pretty much at the top of her class. That summer she decided to go to Hawaii with a few friends simply to see the Pearl Harbor memorial and also do some fishing while there. Unfortunately Karen would be unable to avoid the Coast Guard because of the fact that a storm came through while fishing and the boat sank in the storm meaning the Captain had to call for a rescue, the only good thing was that everyone managed to get into the life raft and the life raft hadn't been damaged so everyone was protected from the elements

"So about how long until they find us?"

"Could be a few hours, could be a few days we simply don't know yet"

"Well we have enough water to last us a few days but let's try not to drink any water the first day in order to save it"

"You have a point Karen"

Three days later Karen was the first up as she heard the sound of a helicopter, so she brought out a flare gun and used it to alert the chopper to their location. Once she saw the Coast Guard personnel she used military hand signals to identify how many people were there and also give them a basic update. Up in the chopper

"Sir one of the people is using military hand signals"

"Hm, then it might be best to talk to them, get the swimmer in the water and then get things ready for pick up"

The swimmer gets to the raft and Karen is the first person he sees

"Which one of you was using the military hand signals?"

"That would be me swimmer. We have two people injured that should go up first, one has a suspected fractured arm while the other has both a head wound and a suspected fractured ankle, both were injured before making it to the life raft tripping on the stairs, everyone else is fine no injuries that I know of however two of them can't swim and all of us are slightly dehydrated, I think for the head wound and ankle we'll need the litter for that one so that we don't risk further injury of the ankle by trying to force them into the basket"

"Okay, then that's what we'll do"

"And I'm going last, I can swim the best and honestly I have the best idea of conditions of the group so I can make decisions of who should go next while you're making sure the person is safely underway in the basket"

"Fine, afterwords you're going to explain how you know military hand signals and also how you're so calm"

"Your base commander will also want to know and I agree, I think the first person should be the head injury and ankle, then the suspected fractured arm, after that we'll see"

"Okay"

So the swimmer asks for the litter and the injured person is  _carefully_  placed into the litter and is then hoisted up to the chopper, the suspected arm fracture was next, then the older of the two that couldn't swim followed by the younger, after that the first mate went up because he was starting to suffer from the dehydration a bit more and needed fluids fast, then another passenger who was starting to get sea sick and needed medical attention, after that was the Captain and finally as soon as Karen saw the Captain in the basket she simply rolled out of the raft and then made sure that the raft would properly deflate so that no one would make a mistake of thinking that someone was in need of rescue and then swam to the swimmer and easily got herself in the basket. Twenty minutes later they were all back on base and Karen simply reported to the base commander both to thank him for his fast response and to explain how she knew military hand signals

"Lt. Kerenai reporting in sir"

"Lt. so that's how you knew the hand signals"

"Exactly sir, I came to thank you and your crew for your fast response and to explain how I knew the hand signals, I also think I should write up a report because I deliberately chose that vessel to go fishing"

"What do you mean?"

(Sighs) "I think you're going to want to sit down for this because I don't think you're going to like this"

So Karen gave a full and complete report which as she suspected the base commander didn't like one bit, after she wrote down her report she then called her family and the President to explain why she was at a Coast Guard base even though she had been given explicit instructions to stay away from the Coast Guard

"Sir they had to rescue us...sir I know that but...what other choice did I have?...no sir there was no other way...sir you'll have to read my report to...yes sir I understand...yes sir...yes sir...understood sir...sir if you read my report will you think about my actions?...yes sir, I understand...goodbye sir"

After Karen hangs up the base commander knew she had just been chewed out by someone pretty high in command and considering his security clearance he had a good idea as to who it was but didn't say anything because some of the younger officers were there and they didn't have the necessary clearance

"Just got chewed out by someone?"

"Oh yeah, not to mention that while they didn't say anything I know for a fact that my family isn't too happy with me either at the moment"

"Going to be grounded once you get back home?"

"I honestly have no idea, but it's possible"

"Well I hope you enjoy the rest of your vacation, in the meantime we have your report and will act on it appropriately"

"I know you will, keep doing your jobs and keep safe while doing them"

"We'll do our best and you know that Kerenai, after all you know just how risky our job is considering you're an EDC kid"

"Yeah I know, just do your best and I'll be happy"

Karen leaves the base and finishes her vacation and she was indeed grounded for the rest of the summer once she got home. Once it hit August she returned to school where they had a new school building which had been finished during the summer and once she was old enough she started taking flying lessons during the weekend

"So what made you want to become a pilot?"

"Well I hope to become a SEAT once I'm old enough"

"A SEAT huh? I think you're going to be busy to qualify as a SEAT, especially if you decide to work for a National Park. I should know before I retired I was a SEAT so I know exactly what you need to learn beyond the basics so I think once you have the hours I will start to teach you what you need to know to become a SEAT but I can't be the one to get you certified"

"I understand, but any training that you think would be useful I'll accept"

Karen quickly gained both hours in the cockpit and was working towards getting her license, but during winter break shortly before she would gain the license she and her class decided to go on a class trip to Alaska, they had actually been invited by the school in Fairbanks and the school had accepted. Unfortunately the plane lost both pilots not to a hijack but to medical conditions that had been undiagnosed and the flight attendant asked if anyone had any flying experience and that's when Karen spoke up

"I do, it's only in small planes but I know the basics"

"Then we need you in the cockpit"

"Understood"

Karen quickly got into the cockpit and the first thing she did was activate the autopilot in order to buy her a little more time before anything else happened. After that she went to the emergency channel to report the situation

"Mayday, Mayday, Mayday this is United Airlines 125, I am a passenger and we've lost both pilots to unknown causes"

"Passenger what is the current altitude and heading?"

"We are at 1500 ft heading left 010 mark 30 need to know the nearest airport"

"Do you have any flight experience?"

"I've been working towards my small plane certification since August but that's it, I have absolutely no clue how to fly a bigger aircraft like this one but autopilot is activated"

She's quickly given a trained pilot from United and is told that she would have to make a manual landing due to the fact that the autopilot did not land the plane

"Okay you're going to have to help me because that's the one thing left before I'm certified to fly small fixed wing aircraft"

"Okay I'll talk you through it don't worry, just listen to what I have to say and you'll make it through just fine, how much fuel do you have left?"

Karen looked and did a mental calculation because she knew that they had been told about a quick layover for fuel once they were up in the air but she hadn't been sure which airport they were supposed to do that at. And that's when she heard the alarm and as soon as she saw the alarm she knew she was in trouble

"Tower update, we are now losing engine number 2 and we still have way too much fuel for a safe landing, request permission to drop landing gear to burn the fuel off"

"Negative that might make you too unstable, how many engines do you have left?"

"Three, but considering the situation I might soon be down to two is there any other airport that's closer that can handle this type of aircraft?"

"Negative"

"Understood, let's hope that the rest of the engines hold out then"

"Agreed in the meantime I'm going to give you instructions for a fuel dump"

"Understood, standing by for fuel dump instructions"

Karen is given fuel dump instructions and once at the airport is guided into the landing sequence which she executes a bit hard but safely

"Good work there, the rescue crews will take it from there"

"Understood, best get the NTSB involved quickly, I'll be waiting for them inside the terminal since I know for a fact that they're going to want to question me, especially because I'm not a certified pilot quite yet"

"Just one question how many hours do you have left until you're certified?"

"I have about 3 hours of landings before I'm certified to become a small fixed wing pilot"

"Okay I think we'll have a few more questions for you once you're in the terminal"

Karen is taken to the terminal and the group that helped her land did indeed have a few more questions because as it turned out there was an NTSB investigator at the airport on the way home having finished a conference when the incident happened and his boss decided that he would be the lead investigator since he was there


	8. Chapter 8

"How many hours do you have logged over all?"

"I have...1,369 hours in total so far"

"That's way more hours than necessary to be qualified for a small fixed wing pilot's license"

"Well my instructor knows that I want to become a SEAT so he's giving me extra training so that I have the best chance possible to be certified as a SEAT once I turn eighteen"

"Simulating several scenario's a SEAT might encounter as best as possible?"

"Exactly"

"Okay then that makes sense, just how old are you anyways?"

"I'm sixteen, just old enough to qualify in my state"

"Okay then"

Karen is asked several more questions but finally the group is given a ride home the Alaskan school having heard about the crash and both schools deciding it was best that the group simply head home so as to assure the parents that their kids were indeed safe, even after having been allowed to call home. Once back home Karen completed her training and was given her pilot's license

"So you've finally become a pilot then"

"Yes, and now all that's left is for me to turn eighteen and then I'll be able to become a SEAT"

"What will you do in the meantime to retain the license?"

"Oh that's easy, my instructor has actually asked me to help until I turn eighteen and graduate high school to help at his school and I will also get to continue flying as well whenever we have the chance"

"Okay then we'll do that"

That summer Karen goes for her helicopter certification with the military and finds that she really was good with both planes and helicopters because she quickly certified for all military vehicles that involved flying. She kept this up until finally she graduated high school after which she went to Marissa's cousin and picked up Powerglide and then went to the Rocky Mountain National Park to become certified as a SEAT, knowing that once certified she would either stay at the park or be assigned somewhere's else depending on Presidential orders seeing as how the President knew and understood exactly why she was wanting to become a SEAT

"And you also are part of the reserves which means once a month during the weekend and two weeks out of the year you'll be gone doing military training until or unless called into service at which time you'll be getting ready for deployment and be gone for longer periods of time"

"Exactly, however I have been given time to become certified as a SEAT before that is enacted"

"And your call sign?"

"I've been given permission by the Cybertronians to call my plane Powerglide, that's the official story that everyone is going to need to stick to anyways"

"And the unofficial story?"

"The unofficial story is actually the truth, the plane that I am calling Powerglide is in reality Powerglide at least, the modified Powerglide"

"Wait Powerglide died a little over four years ago according to the Cybertronians"

"Yeah, he did and the Cybertronians are the ones who raised me, he was on life support until I got home the day he died, we then decided to give him to a cousin of Captain Faireborn until I was old enough to become a SEAT, the cousin helped us with most of the modifications until now because there are still a few modifications that need to be made in order for Powerglide to become a SEAT"

"Okay then we'll make the modifications that are still needed and then we'll get you certified, after that you can do your reserve training and I assume that the President will be the one to ultimately hand you your assignments?"

"Exactly I am always under Presidential order though I may receive the orders from commanding officers that I am to serve under I always know that ultimately I am under Presidential order to obey such orders until such a time as I'm told to go else where's"

"Okay then we have an understanding, be ready for some harsh training"

"Don't worry I'm ready for anything"

"Guess you are all things considered"

"Oh one more thing I was born with special powers but I will not use them unless absolutely necessary or under orders depending on the fire situation"

"Understood after I certify you I will make sure to have that noted for anyone you serve under"

"Okay then, is there a private area I can practice in?"

"That I'm not sure of, besides you're going to have a lot of training hours to complete and that includes actual fires once I deem you ready"

"Okay then, for now where can I bunk?"

"I'll show you, anything else I should know?"

"Yeah, I typically get up about an hour before anyone else if they're not on night watch to get in both exercise and practice in and that basically means an hour before sunrise, even if I cross time zones my body can still tell when it's an hour before sunrise so if you see someone up and about before anyone should be up it's only me"

"That's actually good information for me to know because we don't take kindly to unwelcome visitors that we can't identify immediately"

"Why not?"

"Does almost burned down mean anything to you?"

"Who tried to torch you guys at your base?"

"An arsonist who later got what was coming to him in the form of hard time in a federal penitentiary, last I heard he was still locked up"

"I can understand why you guys are so tight on security then"

"We still have armed guards even, and I should introduce you to them so that they know how to recognize you and your habits"

"Okay then"

Karen is soon introduced to the guards where she explains her routine and then finds her bunk and also her new temporary roommates seeing as how everyone slept together but there were two bathrooms so that's where most of the changing happened when it was needed, and also where the showers happened too

"Okay everyone this is the new pilot going for her SEAT certification, now then she will  _not_  be going to fire calls until I say otherwise however she will be with us whenever we go on training missions, she will also be going to be with the reserves in the military so if she's stationed here we're going to have to get used to a new schedule, and she gets up an hour before sunrise so if you guys suddenly wake up to the sound of a shower or someone moving around it's most likely her. Anything else you would like to say Kerenai?"

"Yes, and this is mainly to the mechanics, I know and understand that you'll have to do maintenance on my plane on occasion but whenever possible I want to be the one working on Powerglide, and before you say anything I have the permission of the Cybertronians to name my plane after their soldier. This means unless absolutely necessary no one touches my plane, I do the maintenance, the cleaning and the general up keep of that aircraft period the end of it. If I am out of commission then I will allow the mechanics to do what they need to do to repair the aircraft, however I want you to keep the aircraft as normal as possible, you'll understand what I mean when you start working on the aircraft, I will also let another person fly the aircraft however you  _must_  be a certified small fixed wing aircraft pilot and never during training scenario's only the real thing, one more warning for the mechanics if you are required to repair my plane and you see something you don't understand you ask me before removing it, there's probably a reason it's there and if need be I will do further explaining in regards to my plane and why I decided to call it Powerglide"

"You mean there's an actual story behind that decision?"

"Yes there is and no unless absolutely necessary you aren't cleared to know what that is, in fact there's a lot about me you aren't cleared for, the base commander knows the full story because he has to and as such has the clearance but that's the only reason"

"If not for everyone's safety I doubt I would have such access so keep that in mind people"

"Wait, things are classified for our safety?"

"Yes it is, there's a lot about me you guys don't know for your own safety but as the base commander knows if you need to know he'll tell you if I can't"

"That's true, whenever Karen is at a location where security is paramount she has a need to know rule placed on her meaning if you don't need to know you don't find out"

"Now then let's allow Kerenai get settled then we'll have a training session, no actual retardant or water we're simply going to get used to flying around each other, this is also to teach Karen how we phrase things when need be"

"So basically getting me used to both you guys and what you might say in a situation"

"Exactly"

"Okay then let's get started"

Karen worked hard over the next two months training every day to get certified, and one day she finally was given certification but no one was happy that day or if they seemed happy everyone knew it was an act due to the circumstances under which Karen got certified

"Congratulations Karen you're officially certified"

"When's the funeral?"

"Not for two more days depending on the weather due to the fact that another fire is still possible, however you've been given orders to immediately report to Yellowstone"

"You know as well as I do that I can at least stay for the funeral, I have to considering..."

"Karen, there was nothing you could do, no matter how much you might have wanted to"

"But if I was a little bit faster then..."

"No Karen, I recently got a report on their deaths, there was nothing you could have done to save them that they hadn't already done. The ME stated that they were dead at least an hour before we got to them due to the fact that they had run out of oxygen and with the way the fire trapped the ground crews I'm actually amazed that more lives weren't lost that day"

"I'm still staying for the funeral as long as it's soon"

"Very well then I will give you the chance to say goodbye"

"Chief..."

"Don't, don't call me that yet I need time myself to cope with my new position"

"My promotion, was I promoted so soon because of this?"

"No, the previous chief signed off on your promotion the day before the fire, he was going to tell you himself that afternoon but we had the lightening strike and windy conditions which forced us to go out early. He had planned on a simple ceremony and then telling you where your new assignment was"

"How long has he known about Yellowstone?"

"Since last week, they personally requested you under no ones influence except yours"

"How would they know about me to request me on my own merit?"

"The chief gave out regular progress for any of his SEAT trainees that didn't have a specific destination in mind, like you wanting to work for the National Park service. You apparently impressed the chief there enough that he wanted you so badly he not only called first dibs on you but literally phoned the other chiefs to not request you unless they absolutely needed another SEAT more than he did, if so he would give them priority"

"Okay I was not expecting something like that"

"We know"

The group soon got the report that the fires were basically out but since the team had just lost three smokejumpers including their chief it was decided that they would stay and help if something happened over the next few days while the team attended the funeral and made decisions on who would be a smokejumper next. Two days later at a combined funeral the team buried their three dead teammates and then Karen took Powerglide and flew him to Yellowstone, she arrived several hours later and the whole team knew that it was not a good idea to ask her why she was late because the Rocky Mountain National Park fire made national news and as such they knew that she had attended the funeral of her former teammates

"Karen I received a report from the previous chief and know your situation however I need to know how this will affect us"

"As a reserve I won't be called unless absolutely necessary so it shouldn't affect the team too severely, mainly training once a month on the weekends and then two weeks once a year for the most part, if I am called to duty we'll have enough notice in advance that you can get a temporary SEAT pilot if need be"

"That's all I need to know"

"One more thing, no one touches my plane unless necessary"

"That was mentioned too and I've already alerted the mechanics, I also know why we can't touch the plane unless necessary, what happens should you be deployed?"

"Ideally I would fly to where I'm supposed to be but if need be the plane stays in the hanger and the mechanics can do regular maintenance on the plane, I will also allow someone to fly the plane once every two weeks as long as they have the correct license"

"Why not once a week?"

"Okay let me define what I mean by flying the plane, once a week a maintenance run is allowed but only a basic run meaning the plane basically stays on the ground unless something is suspected then only half an hour, once every two weeks someone with the correct license can take the plane out for a long flight. Only exception to that rule is if you have a spare SEAT pilot and their plane is down for whatever reason"

"Emergency permission to spare SEAT pilot for fires?"

"Exactly, because I already know that when a fire breaks out we're out there for hours doing what we can to contain said fire"

"Okay I can totally understand and agree to said rule, like I already told you I have gotten a full debrief on you so I know the situation in regards to the plane, including why you're calling it Powerglide"

"Whoa you're gutsy to name a plane after a Cybertronian"

"I/She have/has permission"

"Why though?"

"It's complicated, there are reasons they gave me permission but I am not going to discuss them unless absolutely necessary as the chief well knows. One more thing you should be aware of is that it's been discovered that when I'm under stress I sometimes speak another language so if that happens let me know and I will translate what I have said to the best of my abilities, either that or simply repeat what I was  _trying_  to say in English, except insults and cursing, those stay private period"

Just then someone came to their base and as soon as Karen saw them she growled fiercely and everyone there could tell that someone was going to get hurt if they weren't careful


	9. Chapter 9

"Hello everyone I was just...what are you doing here?"

"No Karl what are  _you_  doing here? I thought you were fired from the park services and slapped with a restraining order for two years that clearly stated you were to go no where's near a National Park during that time, so I'd suggest you leave before I arrest you myself and you know full well I have that power"

"Oh please I got that overturned last week, surely you heard of that considering you were the one who got me in trouble in the first place"

"Maybe I didn't get the notice then because I clearly remember what the courts decided since you almost  _shot me out of the sky_ , as it is you're lucky you didn't hit any of our planes, how you even managed to get a gun onto the facilities is beyond me"

"Wait why are you calling John Karl and how is it he knows you?"

"During my training there were problems developing that ultimately came to a head one month into training when me and another plane were almost shot out of the sky, fortunately for me I saw who was the perpetrator so I identified him for the authorities and shortly before the big fire the courts decided to ban him from National Parks for two years and he was also fired from the park services for life once the conviction got handed down. Apparently he somehow got that overturned while I was fighting fires shortly before I lost members of my last team and didn't get the notification immediately like I'm supposed to"

Just then Karen's phone rang and as soon as she heard the other end of the line everyone could tell that she was even angrier, so angry in fact that she started talking nonsense to the group but made perfect sense to her since she was speaking Cybertronian

*How dare you! I am going to make sure you go down hard for this you never mentioned you were supposed to voluntarily hand yourself in to go to prison after you got your affairs in order I am going to take you down and hand you to the local authorities myself! *

"Well I have to go so..."

"Oh no you don't, you are in big trouble mister you never turned yourself in and that means there's a warrant out for you and  _that_  means I get to arrest you and hand you in to the local authorities personally so stay put before I find a way to keep you there"

John/Karl decided to run though so Karen simply took off after him and actually threw a piece of pipe tripping him up which gave her the chance to catch up and arrest him

"Chief looks like I can't start duty quite yet, I have a criminal to turn in first, where's the nearest police station from here?"

(Sighs) "I'll drive you, speaking of which do you have a driver's license?"

"Yes I do however I don't currently have a car, I've been renting since I moved away from home"

"Then I'll drive you to the station this time so that you can start getting to know your new home"

"Works for me, have a car that has a partition?"

"Yes actually I do, we'll use that one then, by the way good throw"

"Thanks, wish I didn't have to use it though"

"Well if he'd gone quietly in the first place..."

"True enough, I'll let the local authorities know so that he can get checked out I am  _not_  risking it with just the two of us"

"Okay then, let's get going, Mike you're in charge until I get back"

"Understood sir"

Karen and the chief were gone for two hours, mainly because of the fact that not only was the drive long but they also had to stop for gas on the way back and once they dropped off their passenger they talked freely on the road about Karen's responsibilities especially in regards to her powers

"So we'll definitely get enough advanced warning as to not have any trouble if you're needed for any military branch?"

"Actually now that I think about it there's one branch that might not be able to give advanced notice due to a specific set of circumstances"

"Which branch is that so that I can be at least semi-prepared that you have to leave immediately"

"The Coast Guard"

"Hurricanes, they might need you immediately because of hurricanes"

"Exactly, there's a reason I stayed away from the National Guard because I literally can't handle any more training then what I've been given by the military"

"How do you keep everything straight?"

"Well uniforms help slightly, but since I have a unique uniform I have to be around the uniform of the branch I am serving under...I know I should have five separate uniforms and we're working on that, unfortunately I've been part of the military for so long it's taking some time to decide just how we're going to manage such a feat or if it would even be prudent for me to change into separate uniforms now, especially if a situation arises where I have to jump from one branch to another at a moments notice, either that or a combined mission"

"If it is decided that you have separate uniforms how should I explain that to the team?"

"That would be covered under need to know actually, so if something happens and they see me in one uniform but the next time I'm in another they will have to know my military background and  _part_  of the reason why I have such training, then again if I have to reveal my powers before I am called to active duty by the military I will explain my military training then because they have to understand where I gained such control. I will admit that some of that control is gained as I grow up but having the training that I've had has helped immensely, especially if I need to use them for long periods of time"

"Endurance training"

"Exactly, the training I've been given has given me extreme endurance in regards to my powers but also in regards to how long I can stay up and handle tense situations. I wasn't lying when I said that I might speak a foreign language if things are tense enough but I also haven't mentioned the fact that I can stay up for 48 hours straight and still be able to think clearly, after that my ability diminishes and after 72 hours up straight I will simply drop where I am and sleep for at least eight hours maybe longer depending on several factors"

"Basically if something major happens I can expect you to be up for the duration unless it lasts longer than three days"

"Exactly, oh and if that situation arises you're going to have to watch me like a hawk"

"What for?"

"Food intake, I will literally forget to eat in emergency situations. During training there was a fire shortly before the one that killed my teammates, it was a relatively small fire but the winds were not playing nice and we had a slightly hard time keeping it contained as much as we ultimately did. We were able to get more than a five minute hydration break in the second day of the situation and everyone was offered food and everyone else gladly ate, I however was sick at the thought of food and declined to eat, on the third day when I still refused to eat they asked me point blank when the last time I ate was and I answered honestly and told them that it was right before the fire because an hour before the call out we had managed to get lunch. While everyone else had managed to snag a snack on occasion I completely ignored food until after the fire was taken care of so naturally I wasn't hungry because I hadn't eaten enough recently to even realize how hungry I truly was. After that day a policy was made that every firefighter had to have at least three times a day where if they can't catch a real meal they will at least have enough time for a quick bite to eat, be it a bag of chips, some beef jerky, anything that's a quick meal if only to keep their energy levels up even slightly and to make sure that they do indeed fell hungry after having not had a true meal in days. I was actually heading towards trouble that is common for diabetics if not for the fact that the fire had gotten contained, it would take another two days for the fire to actually be put out but once it was contained several teams had a chance to actually eat. I myself was actually checked out by Paramedics and was almost sent to the hospital because of my stupidity"

"Thus the mandatory snack rule, which I guess is still in place if only to keep you eating when you don't really have a chance"

"Exactly, I even keep emergency snacks on the plane just in case"

"A reminder to eat during the major emergencies"

"Yep, but I might need a reminder about the snacks"

"Don't worry I'll make sure of it, now then let's finish gassing up and then we'll get back to base"

They soon got back to base and Karen started training once again so as to get used to the group when suddenly an actual fire call was started. A person actually deliberately started a fire in three different places aided by gasoline so the fires were burning hot and fast

"What's the wind conditions?"

"Rapid heading North by Northeast"

"That's not good chief, not with the low pressure system in the area, I should know because I checked the weather for the area before I flew in, if I remember correctly that means that the fire is...headed straight for the main lodge"

"Chief we've got a problem here"

"What's the problem Jake?"

"The lodge is surrounded all exits blocked by fire"

"Karen how long would you last protecting the entire lodge and area around it?"

"Single layer for five minutes,  _maybe_ "

"And if we gather everyone outside and center them around the plane? I know better than to think you'd abandon him"

"Five layers for half an hour  _tops_  and that's for current conditions only, if the wind shifts any further or that low pressure system does something unexpected..."

"You guys won't be able to last long enough for a rescue despite your best efforts"

"Exactly sir, our best bet of survival is calling for mutual aid immediately, that might keep us alive down there but only if they're fast enough"

"Don't worry I'll take care of it, you just take care of the visitors"

"Yes sir"

Karen flies down ignoring everyone's questions to the chief who stated that they would get an explanation later because this definitely fell under need to know, even Karen knew that the questions would be unavoidable which meant her new crew was about to get the full story when her training crew didn't, and much sooner than she wanted too. As soon as Karen landed she made sure that everyone got the order to gather around the plane and then Karen activated her special abilities, abilities she'd had since she was five years old

"Arranyan shields, five layers!"

Karen soon knew everyone was protected for at least half an hour and she knew that if help arrived quickly enough she could keep the shields going until given the all clear, but only if things either changed for the better in regards to the weather or they got help a lot faster than what was expected

"Kerenai I expect updates every five to ten minutes, sooner if anything drastically changes that you feel I need to know, we'll be the ones informing you of any clearings"

"Understood chief, afterwords yes I will give you guys the full background, including my military ties because unfortunately if you know about my abilities you have to know about the military as well, don't worry all of this falls under need to know and I have Presidential permission to decide what's need to know and what's not, have since I was...fourteen. Part of the reason why is because part of my story involves the military so you guys need to know what you're in for"

"Do we have to sign any documentation?"

"Yeah actually I want you to sign documentation afterwords, and understand that temps are not allowed to know anything about me and if I tell you I can't talk about it I mean I can't talk about it and don't press me for any answers"

"Got it Kerenai, anything else we should know?"

"Um we'll explain that after the fire because it involves my firefighting abilities, though chief if need be we'll discuss it sooner, but that depends entirely on the weather"

"I think I know what you're talking about and I agree, they don't need to know that aspect of your firefighting capabilities until necessary, because I won't have to do anything until then"

Fifteen minutes later Karen was reporting that things were getting worse for her and everyone with her and that they could really use a window of opportunity any time now

"You guys have fifteen minutes before we're dead"

"What are your layers?"

"Down to two, but they're my strongest layers which is why they last so long and why I gave you half an hour, however with every fallen layer I weaken just that much more and what's more is that I am doing my best to make sure that if any smoke filters in I keep the air fresh so that's also draining my resources"

"I thought that people could go in but nothing could get out and I also thought that the barrier excluded smoke"

"Sorry chief but something happened after the fifth layer broke and the smoke poured in for some reason my abilities can't keep the smoke out like normal which is a bit concerning actually"

"Okay, with you filtering the air how long can you last?"

"Fifteen minutes, but only just after the fifteen minutes I'll pass out and everyone will be consumed either by smoke or fire, the plane will protect me from the smoke but not the fire ultimately so I hope you guys can hurry things along slightly because we are in desperate need of a rescue right now. And chief next time there's a fire like this I am staying up in the air as long as possible, we'll evacuate sooner next time so that we're not in a situation like this again"

"Not our fault we had an arsonist"

"I know and that's probably part of the problem, but still maybe we should find a way to always have at least one exit clear for future fires so that this doesn't happen again"

"Agreed, we'll all meet and discuss ways with the lodge later, by the way help is finally on the way and an exit should be available soon, you able to take off from where you are?"

"Yeah I'm good"

"That's all I need to know"

Five minutes later Karen was able to release the shields and allow everyone to get to their cars to finish evacuating and Karen herself got back up into the air and finished fighting the fire. Afterwords the smokejumpers stayed behind while the pilots went back to base since it was nighttime and everyone knew better than to fly at night since they weren't commercial aircraft. They did know that the situation was under control though


	10. Chapter 10

"Okay I know you guys have questions and I will give them to you guys, but I also want the smokejumpers involved in hearing the explanation because there might come a time that they too need to know so what I want to know is do we wait until we're sure the fire is out or do we record what I am going to say and show them the message later?"

"We wait until the smokejumpers can hear as well"

"Okay then, don't worry I will explain but I want everyone to hear my explanations that's all"

"In the meantime everyone get some sleep just in case things pick up, even then we'll be needed to finish the fight so I want everyone up and ready to go at daylight, Kerenai seeing as how you wake up before everyone else I want you to make sure food is ready for us so that we're not flying on an empty stomach, and I want to know a little bit more about what we talked about in the car because some of what you said doesn't make much since considering our restrictions"

"Oh I have two words for you in regards to that, ground crew"

"Wait you volunteered for..."

"Yes I did because of the fact that the fire was still uncontrolled when we were forced to stop flying and it lasted that ways for almost the entire time"

"That's it we're having talks about how dedicated you are after this"

"Fine"

"Oh by the way someone knew you were coming here and sent this shortly before you arrived"

She's handed an envelope and as soon as she opens it and reveals the contents they knew that she was shocked about something

"Kerenai what's wrong?"

"These are known as challenge coins, I myself have one uniquely made for me because of special circumstances, as you know chief and everyone else will find out I serve in the military have been for a long time, and yes that's part of the story I will tell everyone once the fire is out. One of the units I served made a promise with each other, that we'd pass on the challenge coin to the last survivor in our unit as a memento of our time with them, almost everyone got a challenge coin except one but at the time that was because he had only just joined three weeks earlier while the rest of us had been serving for years. For me to be receiving these challenge coins means something happened to the unit and everyone's dead"

Karen reads the letter confirming her fears, it describes how the unit had been ambushed during a peace keeping mission in Bosnia, everyone's wills had mentioned the promise they made to each other and that since she was the last surviving member of the unit she was the one to inherit all the coins

"Karen, do I need to pull you tomorrow?"

"No sir, I know my duty, I've been trained for this exact situation since I was five I can handle the fire, I might do some mourning later but until I get a chance I can put my emotions aside"

"Very well, get some sleep, make sure we have breakfast and afterwords you can mourn before you do explaining to the team"

"We'll see, and maybe I'll tell a few stories about the unit too, that might help"

"Not until you're ready Kerenai, now then the sleep thing is an order to everyone"

The next day everyone woke up to a good breakfast and by that afternoon the fire was out and only a small crew needed to stay to make sure that the fire was truly out and didn't sprout up again so two teams of smokejumpers stayed over the next six hours but by that evening the Yellowstone team was back together and it was time for Karen to explain her story

"Okay, please understand that the forms I have here are necessary for everyone except the chief because he's already signed his forms, he did it the day it was confirmed I was being transferred here after my training was done. Now then you overheard the chief talking about something extremely vague, and he also mentioned a he I can explain all of that in one story. First of all has everyone heard of the EDC?"

Everyone nods their heads yes

"Okay, I am what's commonly called an EDC kid meaning I have or had at least one family member that either is or was part of the EDC, however I'm unique amongst the EDC kids for a very special reason. My plane is called Powerglide, yes the same Powerglide that the Cybertronians lost in a battle a little over four years ago, there's a reason behind that. The reason is because my plane is in reality Powerglide, now then his engine has been modified so that regular mechanics can make repairs at need but I want him to remain as Cybertronian as possible due to the fact that he's one of my family members. Yes the Cybertronians raised me since I was a month old at the request of my birth parents and it is actually in their will, so the Cybertronians did take me in and raised me with help from the human members of the EDC, mainly Captain Faireborn. When I was five it was discovered that I had powers that I was born with but didn't emerge until that day, due to that it was decided I would get military training and since that day I have been training with every branch of the armed forces including the special ops branch during the summer and holidays, I've mainly been training with the Coast Guard but I do train with other branches from time to time mostly during winter and spring breaks. Now then once I turned eighteen I signed a unique contract that stated I was remaining in the reserves instead of going to the main forces, that's because at fourteen when Powerglide died I decided to become a SEAT pilot, I had actually been thinking about joining a fire department for a few years but didn't decide to become a SEAT pilot until we lost Powerglide. I figured that was the best way to honor his sacrifice"

"So what you and the chief were discussing that day was your powers"

"Exactly, specifically my shields, the smaller my shields the longer I can hold them and the stronger I can make them, however depending on how long I use my abilities or how strong they are I do get tired, and with the shields I also weaken every time a layer is broken down by any means. The only time I'm not severely affected is when I use the shields on me and only me, but I eventually do get tired, which is probably why I don't activate personal shields very often. I will use other abilities as needed but my shields are the most important ones you need to know about. Now then because I am in the reserves of every branch of the armed forces I will be leaving for training one weekend a month and two weeks every year for regular training. There is also a chance of me being called up for duty but if that happens almost every branch will give us enough advanced warning that you can start looking for a temp SEAT pilot before I leave"

"Which branch is the exception?"

"The Coast Guard"

"Because of hurricanes, if a big one goes down..."

"Exactly, however that is the only branch that might not be able to give enough advanced warning. There's one more thing we need to discuss that the chief is making a mandatory rule, we must always have emergency food in our planes should our rescues last even longer than this one and are worse too. I did something stupid once during training and paid for it dearly by almost winding up in the hospital. I forgot to eat during a fire and as such when it was time for me to eat I wasn't hungry and became low on blood sugar. After that my training chief decided to make it mandatory that all of us carry small emergency snacks so that if a rescue lasts longer than expected we still eat, and if that happens it's also mandatory that we get three breaks a day at minimum to eat said snack since we might not have time for an actual meal. That's even more critical for me because depending on the fire I might decide to volunteer for ground duty when I can't fly. I also can stay up for three days straight because of my military training giving me that kind of endurance, even when I use my powers"

"But you don't have ground training"

"That's the thing, I do have ground training, I just don't use it very often. I have never told anyone but the military gave me firefighting training when I was sixteen, the same year I started training to become a military and civilian pilot, not many people know that though because I don't like to mention how much training the military has given me. I have kept up this certification though and when anyone checks they see it via the military and no one asks questions, even if they know I also fly during the fires. If there's a big fire I may decide to fly and also fight from the ground and that's where I got myself into trouble, because I was doing double duty and not paying attention to my own needs, until I couldn't eat because the thought of food literally made me sick and I was only a few hours away from simply crashing right then and there to get decent sleep"

"So basically we need to keep an eye on you for future reference and make sure that the food rule in enforced, even if you fight against it"

"That's exactly what I'm saying, you have  _got_  to keep on me no matter what. Now then whenever I am called to duty you will have temps, they are not to know about my abilities but they can know that I am in the reserves and as such the reason why they were temporarily assigned to this post. They are also allowed to fly Powerglide to fight fires if something happens to their main plane, and they are allowed to take him out for long maintenance flights every two weeks, if he needs a maintenance flight sooner no longer than half an hour, oh and they're not to know that the plane is Powerglide either"

"That actually makes sense, not many people would understand why your family allowed this, or would even understand your connection to the Cybertronians"

"The only ones who have a hope of basic understanding are fellow EDC kids but even they don't have the full story about me"

"Now then Kerenai might soon be receiving multiple uniforms, one for each branch of the military, so if she has one uniform on one time and another uniform on another understand that it's because of the different branches she serves"

"I will actually have two uniforms per branch, a dress uniform and a work uniform, there's also the fact that I might be receiving my orders in person so if someone in uniform does come to the base and we're out on a call I am required to know immediately guys, if we're not out on a call I still need to know immediately so that I can meet them and receive any orders I may have"

"Now remember they might be short notice orders especially for the Coast Guard so depending on what her orders are she'll either get dressed immediately or tell us to start looking for temps and then give us a drop dead date"

"Drop dead date?"

"Yeah it's the absolute last day you have to find one because after that you're going to be down a man which might not end well depending on fire season"

"Anything else we need to know?"

"Nope because you already know about the random language change"

"What were you speaking by the way?"

"Sorry don't want to discuss what languages I know because I know a lot, have to"

"Fine, just...try and not do that because it's hard keeping up when you don't know the language and you really want to know what was said and you can't. By the way I know New Orleans French"

"New Orleans French huh? I know actual French so you might not be able to translate as easily as you think you can"

"Fine by me, at least if you suddenly start speaking French I might have a basic idea of what you're saying"

"True enough, oh and there might be times I slip into sign language, either that or we might have a visitor that uses sign language, if that happens let me know and I will do all the translating, unless it's with the military"

"Because depending on what it is you have to protect what you know in regards to the military. If you are called by the Coast Guard to help with hurricane situations would you be able to talk about it?"

"Yes I would, and it would actually be critical for me to do so because of the fact that I will need a place to vent and vent openly at times no matter what the branch, unfortunately I can really only do that if I am doing rescues after hurricanes because otherwise I might risk operational security which no one can afford. It would also be important because depending on the weather here there's a possibility of hurricane like winds and their aftermath and you'll need my Coast Guard knowledge to deal with those situations"

"Okay then, for now let's just get back to our normal duties and worry about situations regarding Kerenai's position as they come up"

Just then an official truck came up and Kerenai instantly recognized the truck too

"Hey guys, training's gonna have to wait a minutes I got something I have to take care of"

"How urgent is it?"

"Urgent enough that these people have to know where I am at all times because they can only contact me while in country for a reason I am not going to get into"

Kerenai goes over to the group and everyone could tell that they were suits, what they didn't know was who they worked for

"Hello agents, are you the new case agents that are to inform me of any developments?"

"Indeed we are Kerenai, you should know that he's recently escaped Federal prison"

"I see, when did this happen?"

"Less then six hours ago, we got the call immediately and from there we tracked you down and came from the field office, just a long drive from there is all"

"I understand, and unfortunately this is one of the things that has to be done in person"

"Exactly, a security measure if I recall correctly"

"Yes it is, and of course I'm wearing my contacts so I know it's you immediately, even plastic surgery can't fool these contacts"

"Does your boss know about the contacts or even why we might come here?"

"No, you know from the files that I have kept that a secret for a long time now. I also know that there have been times when there's an agent watching me without them thinking I noticed"

"That's because we were concerned about potential people coming after you after what you did"

"I know, but you know as well as I do that obeying orders from my family, Federal agents or my commanding officers has been ingrained in me since I was five for my own safety. Now then for now as far as we know he doesn't know where you currently live and we're going to do our best to keep it that way, but there might come a time when we will have to have you moved for everyone's safety"

"Guys if this man finds out where I live we're going to have to fake my death and then make sure no one finds out the truth. The President has insured that any credentials I gain goes to any name I am given, even if I'm amnesic the one caveat to that is that I have to be retested to make sure I remember without really remembering"

"Well like I said for now he has no clue where you live and we'll do our best to make sure it stays that ways, we're also going to be in contact more regularly mostly by phone though since we can't drive three and a half hours every time unless we think it really important. We're also going to have an agent move closer to the park so that if something goes wrong you have help immediately"

"I'll also screen my mail more carefully and make sure I don't use the same route too often except in the park because there's really only one route once I get in the park to get here"

"Yeah we know, but try and change up the routes to get here as much as possible, either that or do what you've been doing and live in the park as much as possible which will help a great deal in regards to security"

"Don't worry that was always the plan, now then can I get you guys anything to eat before you head back to base?"

"No, we just ate shortly before we got here"

"Okay, keep in touch and I will as well, once a week sound good?"

"That works perfectly"

Karen then went to her plane signaling to her team that everything was okay and they did training, though afterwords Karen was confronted by the boss

"Karen what were strangers doing at my base? I think you know, and you know what I think the better question is what were suits doing at my base?"

(Sighs) "I'm sorry chief but I can't tell you anything for you own safety...however you should know that there's a possibility they'll show up again or if not them specifically another team. Let me know immediately and keep them on the very edge of the base and let me come to them because I have a means of identifying them and verifying they're who they say they are. I also am going to be screening my mail a lot more closely and I want you to do the same, I know it sounds weird but it's for everyone's protection and I know I'm being vague and paranoid but it's the only thing I can do right now"

"Okay, but if the time comes I want a full story"

"Okay I can give you that, but only at the right time, and chief if something happens to me at any time don't blame yourself"

"Karen are you suicidal?"

"No...but I know that there are risks in every day life"

"Okay you have a point"

The fire season continued and Karen was busy but finally fire season ended and Karen found work in another area of the town as a firefighter seeing as how she did have the credentials to fight fire from the ground


	11. Chapter 11

"So you'll be working at Yellowstone between spring and fall or what's more commonly known as fire season and here during the winter to keep your skills up, with an occasional chance to fly"

"Yes there's also the fact that I will occasionally be leaving to do training seeing as how I am part of the reserves in the military"

"Okay I can work with that, I actually have another person who's in the reserves as well so you two might get along well and might even have training at the same time, though probably different unit"

"Yeah that's a probability"

As it turned out though the two did know each other, but not because of being in the reserves

"Karen, what are you doing here?"

"I just started here, I work at Yellowstone from spring through fall as a SEAT pilot and decided to work here during the winter months. I thought you were planning on college Kevin"

"I was but you remember the bombing incident?"

"Yeah, I was gone most of the year though and you know full well why considering who your parents are"

"Well that was when I was inspired to help people, so I decided instead of going to college for an electrical engineering degree I would become a public servant, I was trying to decide between paramedic and firefighter and ultimately became a firefighter because I realized I wasn't that interested in the medical field, though everyone has at least basic first aid training"

"What's up with the reserves then?"

"Took a bit longer but I realized that I also wanted to serve my country but didn't want to be part of the active duty so I took the route of the reserves, which still allows me to serve my country at times of need but also allow me to stay at home"

"Okay then that makes sense"

"Karen I also recently received a coded letter that I think would interest you"

"I didn't receive any letter"

"I know, but that's probably because it arrived while you were at that funeral"

"Okay show me the letter and I'll see what I can figure out about it depending on who it's from...screen the letter before you open it?"

"Not to the degree you might now because I can see the signs of your paranoia but yeah I did do basic screening all of us were taught at age fifteen"

"That works for me because of the fact you're not as high risk as I am"

"Fine, um, you want a tour of the town so that you know where the basic amenities are?"

"I was actually given the tour early on when we had to get a prisoner to the police"

"Okay that was all I was wondering, do you need to stop by the bank though because I do and I think we should catch up some more"

"I most certainly do actually because I have some questions actually about a recent transaction"

So after work because they worked the night shift they went to the bank and unfortunately they were unlucky in the fact that the bank was robbed and everyone was held hostage. The only good thing was that Karen got a good look at the perpetrators and as such managed to get pictures of them through her special contacts and through careful blinking managed to send the pictures to the FBI because a negotiation team was happening at the moment

"Sir someone just sent us these pictures, I think they're from the inside but I have no idea who sent them or even how"

"Run them through facial recognition and we'll go from there"

"Yes sir"

Meanwhile inside Karen had also made sure her powers protected everyone innocent so that if anyone was shot it wouldn't be fatal. Three hours later the group managed to escape and shot several people in vital spots but while they went down from shock they wouldn't die because they would get to hospitals in time, though the robbers didn't know that

"Hey this guy is somehow alive, and so are a few others but we don't know how long because they were hit in vital organs"

Karen was one of those shot and she told the paramedics how it was possible because the doctors needed to know, besides she wasn't hit in a critical area, only the shoulder

"The guys that are hit in critical areas can bleed out but nothing vital was shot even if it should have been due to me, I have an ability called Arranyan powers, POTUS can give you more information however I can  _not_  be knocked out until I know everyone else is safe, or well safe enough because if I go unconscious those shields drop and the bullets will continue their trajectory and kill those hit in vital areas so for now mild painkillers only"

"How are you even able to speak clearly?"

"Training...lots of training"

"Let me guess POTUS clearance only"

"Not quite but if you need to know you will"

"The bullet doesn't seem to have penetrated far so most likely a doctor will be able to take it out easily but you'll still need x-rays to see what damage was done to your shoulder"

"Well then I am going to have Kevin drive me in so long as he wasn't injured otherwise I'll have someone else drive me in but I am not going in the ambulance because I don't need it"

"Kevin can drive and you're right you don't even need an IV or if you do the hospital will give you one and we do have mild painkillers in pill form available"

"No need I have Naproxen Sodium in my purse"

"You carry aspirin with you?"

"Yeah I have a job where painkillers are a bit of a necessity"

"Okay then you just need to sign a form stating you've refused treatment from us"

"Okay then let me sign the form and then I'll head to the hospital"

Several hours later Karen is just getting x-rays at the hospital when she learns that all the patients would survive baring any complications that even doctors couldn't sometimes foresee and her main doctor could physically see the drain her powers had on her

"Do you always get tired after using your powers?"

"Yeah, it always various but even when I'm shielding myself if I am consciously maintaining that shield for long periods of time I will get exhausted, especially if I'm maintaining it to protect my life, though if I'm knocked unconscious for any reason even surgery my life is in sudden jeopardy depending on what's going on with my body after I lose shielding"

"I think that's all I need to know, now then I'm still waiting on the x-ray results but from what I can tell you can be released tonight with wound care instructions and a note to your doctor that you're on light duty for the next week, what do you do as a job?"

"Firefighter"

"Okay, that means you main the truck charging the lines if you're qualified or if not you stay at the station and simply clean and cook and you're going to have to get checked out again before being cleared for full duty but as far as I can tell nothing was broken"

"That's good news, but why wait a week then?"

"There may not be broken bones, but I suspect a dislocated shoulder, however I need my x-rays to prove that and even then there's some previous damage that I'm worries about that I want you to rest"

"Previous damage?"

"Yes, do you remember anything happening to you recently? I know you work with the forest service so did something happen there that you didn't think anything serious at the time but now are thinking about it more since I brought it up?"

"Actually now that I think about it yeah. Shortly before fire season ended I was doing some self defense training on some equipment when suddenly one of my co-workers interrupted me despite my constant warnings not to do that and they know better because of the fact that I've told them my story due to circumstances so they know I'm in the reserves and make sure to stay in shape. I was in the middle of a punch but at the last second wrenched my shoulder back so that I never made contact. Guess it all happened so fast and the fact that I only felt a little more sore the next day then normal made me think everything was already when in reality it was just festering waiting for the right opportunity to strike"

"Well the x-rays should be here soon enough"

Just then two people showed up and showed badges to make sure they left the room

"I was wondering if you guys would show up"

"Karen the people were part of the group though you wouldn't know it from the answers they're giving"

"Mainly because the officers don't know how to ask the right questions and even if they did these guys are low level and as such don't know much more than the fact that they were being paid to rob banks. How did you guys find the connection?"

"It took a bit of digging but we managed"

"Must have been doing that since I sent the photos for you to have an answer by now"

"Yeah we were, good thing you have those contacts"

"So what's the plan now?"

"He knows where you are and is coming for you"

(Sighs) "I just started this job too"

"We know, unfortunately you know as well as we do that either he or his associates still on the outside will have a hit out on you by the end of the night and they'll execute it within a week"

"Where would I go?"

"California, we already have things set up for you to move there, and you can apply to the fire department after you arrive considering you have the credentials no matter who you're called"

"And the reserves?"

"That will remain as well, if your direct commanding officer needs to know the truth he'll be told by POTUS himself, this time even your direct commanding officer is on the need to know list"

"How long?"

"You know as well as we do that we don't know that, especially if he stays on the run and doesn't do the hit himself"

"I know, when should I expect to see you guys again to execute the plan?"

"Don't know to be honest, mainly because of the fact that we also need to decide how to do this"

"Fine, however don't show up at my job, I might be out on a call and I can't have you guys coming around or else Kevin might suspect something"

"We already know about Kevin, if need be don't worry we'll wait at your place"

"Okay then, see you guys later"

Two days later the agents were in her driveway

"I guess this means it's time to execute some sort of plan"

"Yes and this time we actually lucked out, where you approached by your chief by any chance?"

"Yes, there's a conference coming up this weekend and he wants me to attend"

"Tell him you accept, on the way you're going to die in an accident"

"I am  _not_  killing others so that I can survive"

"Didn't your chief tell you where the conference is?"

"No, he told me that he would give me more information should I choose to accept"

"It's in the next state over, easily within driving distance, you can have an accident on the way there on a road that had regular traffic but not traveled too frequently because we don't want someone to discover the ruse"

"Okay then, I guess I'll accept and get ready to die, which means I'm going to have to pack like it's a normal trip"

"Exactly, afterwords we'll take care of the rest"

"Okay, however how long will I be missing since no one will know of the accident for a bit"

"Okay I think you misunderstood me when I mentioned regular but not too frequent traffic. I am talking about the fact that there is travel on it every day but it's not like a freeway, more like a main road that is regularly patrolled at least once a day maybe a bit more depending on what's going on in the area"

"You mean like a small town road"

"That's exactly what I mean"

"Okay then that will work, we're going to have to leave evidence of my having been in there though besides my ID"

"Don't worry we have that already set up"

"Okay then, let's do this"

The next day Karen informed her boss that she decided to go to the conference and a day later she headed to the conference but would never make it. An hour before she reached the city she stopped in a small town that had regular traffic but it wasn't like big cities and as such while accidents would be reported it would take several hours to be discovered by which time Karen would already be headed to San Francisco California. Five hours after Karen crashed a civilian made a 911 call and reported said accident and a sheriff quickly responded hoping someone would still be alive but as soon as he arrived he realized that he needed to call the coroners office

"I need to run a license plate, I hope this can help us ID the person so that we know who to get in contact with"

The information is quickly given and the sheriff is saddened even further when he finds out that it was a fellow first responder that had died and probably instantly too from what he could tell. Family contact was Captain Faireborn of the EDC and the sheriff made that call personally as soon as he got that information. Marissa would tell the Cybertronians in turn while she had given the sheriff permission to tell her job about their loss. At the fire station Karen worked at they were all wondering when Karen would report in stating that she had made it to the convention safely when the chief's phone rang

"Hello?...yes this is he...I see...no I understand...where did it happen?...I see...no um I'll, I'll come to declare the body...okay I'll see you there then...of course...thanks you...goodbye"

Everyone could tell the chief had received bad news

"Chief what is it?"

"Kerenai's dead, it appears she went off the road and crashed, according to toxicology reports she had nothing in her system so they suspect she simply became tired and unintentionally fell asleep at the wheel"

"But that's not possible, Karen's able to stay up for days at a time no problem"

"Kevin she might have been sick affecting her ability to stay up, or she might have stayed up longer than we thought and the lack of sleep simply and suddenly caught up to her"

"Very well, when's the funeral?"

"As soon as we can bring her here for burial, Captain Marissa Faireborn of the EDC called the day Karen joined and stated that her will states she's to be buried in the state she was working in, in the nearest town or city that has a cemetery to her place of work"

A few days later the group held a funeral for Kerenai while she herself was settling in to her new job in San Francisco


	12. Chapter 12

"It states here that you have credentials to fight fires as a pilot"

"That's correct, I do have credentials as a SEAT pilot"

"Then I will talk to the forest service about a temporary transfer for you"

"Sir?"

"We're in the middle of fire season right now and unfortunately they recently lost a SEAT pilot in a training accident and have yet to replace him due to how busy things have been, they already have a plane ready for a new pilot but like I stated they need to find that pilot first"

"Sir it's December how can it be fire season?"

(Sighs) "Unfortunately we have an arsonist who's lighting fires at least once a week at the moment and we're doing everything we can just to keep up. The Governor has permitted the National Guard to send their firefighters to help supplement our manpower and we're in talks with the President to allow us to use some of the Army's trained firefighters to help supplement the Guard. After that we're going to go for mutual aid calls and request help from neighboring states if we can't get this under control soon"

"Which means you need every trained personnel you have and with me being a credited pilot I can help fight the fires with a plane and on the ground when given the chance"

"Exactly, we're also working with the FBI to try and figure out a way of catching the arsonist"

"The FBI sir?"

"Yeah, we've found evidence that this isn't the first place the guy has hit, we believe he's crossed state lines to cause problems here and as such it falls under federal jurisdiction"

"I understand sir, so you're going to contact the forest service and explain who I am to them and see if they'll accept a temporary transfer until they can get a new permanent SEAT pilot?"

"Yes that's exactly what I'm going to do, but until then you're going to get to know your new teammates and start learning the layout of the city because we are still a local fire department and as such we have to take care of the city as well in various aspects"

"Understood sir"

Just then though the tones sounded and they were called out to a car accident

"Like I said"

The group quickly went out to the accident and they realized that they would need the jaws of life to get the work done

"Okay Thomas you're operating the jaws this time"

"Yes sir, someone get a blanket to cover the victim"

The group quickly extricated the victim who was sent to the hospital and a bit later their paramedics stated that it seemed like their victim had fewer injuries then earlier suspected and would most likely make a full recovery

"Thomas you need to make the meal tonight and I'll make the call to transfer you temporarily to the forest service so that they have a SEAT pilot"

"Understood sir"

"You just got here and already they're transferring you?"

"Yes, but in case you didn't hear it's because I'm a certified SEAT pilot and right now the forest service needs my skills"

"Wait what's a SEAT? I know I've seen planes fighting fires but I never knew what they were called"

"A SEAT is a single engine air tank, I'm basically the smallest of the planes to take flight to fight fires however sometimes my size is an advantage because I can get into smaller areas that bigger planes or even choppers might not be able to, but even I have a height limit if I'm not getting water"

"When you mention smaller areas you mean?"

"Well places like vegetated canyons and a few other places...chief have a map I can show them what I'm talking about?"

"Better the fire's on the news"

"Okay let's see if I can show them more examples besides canyons"

Fortunately that's exactly what she got and she did manage to show them too

"Okay we see what you mean"

"Okay then"

"Wait...is this about that accident we heard about recently?, I think I remember hearing something on the news a few days ago"

"Yes that's exactly what it's about"

"Okay, I understand you leaving so soon"

"Mark"

"She's a pilot John, a pilot that has a specific set of skills that's currently very useful right now considering the arsonist situation"

(Sighs) "I get it, I don't like it because she won't be able to get used to us or us get used to her and will basically keep us off balance for a while but I get it"

"It's only until we get the arsonist situation under control, once that happens fire season will finally end and she can work with us instead"

"Either that or until the forest service can get a new SEAT pilot"

"Okay then, Thomas keep yourself safe while with the forest service, I know you guys will look out for each other just like us but..."

"I'm  _your_  team member now I get it"

"Exactly, what you did was like second nature to you and we worked flawlessly, and the fire right afterwords simply proved it, you were always at the right place at the right time, even managing to save the Captain at one point"

"Well, it wasn't exactly the Captain's fault he was put in that position but it was still dangerous"

"We know, it was simply wrong place at wrong time with the Captain"

"There was no way to predict that wind shift"

A few days later Karen currently going by Sarah was with the forest service getting a debrief on the current situation and the chief was hoping to get in some training so that the team could get used to a new team member but unfortunately they got a fire call right after everyone was being introduced

"All right boys we're on"

Karen quickly got to her plane and was soon up in the air ready for battle, already used to the plane because she simply knew planes and was quick to adapt, there were a few switches that were in different spots from what she was used to but since all the switches were labeled it was okay. They fought that fire for seven hours before they were told to stop because it was getting to be night time. When they got back inside Karen got some news she wasn't expecting

"Hey guys got some news about Yellowstone"

"Really? I haven't heard anything about that area in a while been too busy with my station to really pay attention to national news"

"Yeah, well apparently they're announcing a new SEAT pilot already"

"Wait what? I thought they just got a new SEAT pilot"

"Their SEAT pilot was working in a nearby town as a regular firefighter in the off season and was killed in a crash chief, so Yellowstone needs a new SEAT pilot...here's the thing though the new SEAT states that they're only staying until the true SEAT pilot returns"

"Why do they say that?"

"Something about being an EDC kid and knowing that Kerenai is harder to kill than people think. According to the new pilot they won't believe that Kerenai is truly dead even with a body until two years have passed"

Karen didn't pay any further attention and called the FBI agents about the new situation immediately

"What are we going to do?"

"You will do nothing Sarah, we'll handle this, besides it looks like the gang is being rounded up quicker than we thought and you might be able to return to Yellowstone sooner than we thought. As for the EDC kid, well we didn't say anything and they do know you better than most people so there's not much we can do about that"

"What about Kevin?"

"We've been watching him discreetly and apparently he's under the same belief as your replacement. Now then you might be able to return by summer but the leader is hard to catch so you might not, we're going to have to play things by ear"

"And afterwords we're going to have to do a lot of explaining to everyone"

"Yes, but I'm sure that they'll forgive you when they find out that your life was at risk"

"Okay, well I have to go"

Karen soon settled in to her new position and one day was told that the arsonist was caught and that fire season was finally over

"That's good to hear, what about a new SEAT pilot though?"

"We've finally found a permanent SEAT pilot too, just found them because as you well know we've been looking since the beginning and finally we have one"

"Oh how long have they been certified?"

"Just got their certification actually"

"Oh where?"

"At the Rocky Mountain National Park, we applied and requested the earliest pilot certified and were granted the first one certified from across the country due to emergency need"

"I thought the Rocky Mountain National Park was closed for the season"

"So did we but apparently not"

"Okay then I'll just be going back to my station then"

Karen arrived back to her station and was told she had a week off because of the fact that she had been fighting fires constantly with the forest services. She went to the beach and was swimming when she and another person got caught in a rip tide

"Can you swim any longer?"

"No can you?"

"Not really, I swim a lot more than you apparently but this rip is one of the stronger ones, if we were in a milder rip I would say follow my lead and swim at a forty-five degree angle but all we can do is alert the life guards and let the rip take us out to sea until it releases it's hold on us"

The two were actually rescued by guards on jet skis and they got the two safely back to the beach

"Are you two okay?"

"Yeah I think so, but I'm going to drive us to the hospital just to make sure, I may have swallowed sea water and I know for a fact she has but I need to make sure for both of us. I do  _not_  want to deal with complications of possible water inhaled at a later date"

The two went to the hospital and quickly checked in

"What brings you two in today?"

"We were swimming and she for a fact inhaled some sea water while I might have but I don't know for sure, I brought us in to be checked out and cleared"

The two were some of the first people seen and while Karen was cleared of inhaling water the second person was kept under observation over night just in case something happened. Meanwhile Karen went back to work in San Francisco in the fire department. Six months after Karen faked her death and joined the San Fran fire department she was at work when suddenly two people in suits asked for her, but was told that she was currently on a call because the Paramedics weren't needed this time due to the fact that the call was actually a fire safety class to school kids. Meanwhile at the school the students were paying rapt attention to the firefighters


	13. Chapter 13

"Sarah here is going to demonstrate how we put on our equipment when we get a fire call"

"I'm also going to be timed because we have to be ready and out the door in less than a minute in order to respond quickly"

"Go"

Karen quickly got into her equipment and was ready just as the person called out time

"Now then, sometimes we have faster response times because we might be just getting back when another call comes in which means that we're already dressed, other times there might be a busy period so we basically sleep in our pants just in case we get a call in the middle of the night keeping our turn coats and boots off and ready on the engine, but we never put our SCBA or self contained breathing apparatus as it's called until we get to the scene because sometimes we may not need that and while it's not exactly heavy it is extremely bulky and as such would be difficult to ride in. Now then we also have other equipment that helps us like..."

All of a sudden there was a high pitched noise and Karen simply moved around and the noise stopped

"That's my locator alarm, if I get trapped and am unable to move that alarm will go off allowing my fellow firefighters a chance to locate me and get me to safety. I also have another alarm in my air mask that tells me when I get too low on oxygen which tells me it's time to get out so that if need be I can switch tanks and continue the job"

"We also have other equipment that helps us do our jobs too"

The group continued to show some of the equipment and explaining what they do but finally they were done with the presentations for the day. When they got back everyone saw the two people in suits and Karen immediately recognized them

"Chief we need to talk in private"

"Use my office then"

The three of them go into the office so that they could talk

"So what's up?"

"We got him, he's actually dead, tried to shoot his way past five troopers, two DEA agents, three FBI agents and twelve US Marshals, and that was while backup was en route"

"So I can go home now?"

"Yes you can go home now, and we'll be with you so that we can explain the situation to both your Yellowstone bosses and your other bosses and Kevin"

"I thought it would take longer when you guys first told me"

"So did we, by the way now that he's dead the case is officially declassified and you can explain things to anyone you want to which will also go a long ways in explaining why we had to fake your death"

"A death that many EDC kids that knew me didn't believe in"

"True but still others did and they will need the back story in order to understand why you faked your death in the first place"

"True, I forgot about that so I guess it's a good thing that the case is declassified with his death, when exactly am I able to go home?"

"Give your two week notice today and once the two weeks are up you can go home"

"Good thing I basically lived like I could move at any time"

"Military life?"

"Firefighter life, that and the fact that as an EDC kid especially someone who's had to fake her death I knew that I would have to be ready to hear the news that I can go home at any time so I made sure I could move at any time, but yeah I guess part of it is military life"

"Though as a firefighter the military won't really be moving you anymore unless necessary and even then I think it will be temporary"

"True enough"

Karen and the FBI agents left the office and then Karen went to the chief and whispered something in his ears though no one knew exactly what, but what they did notice was Karen was back in the office with the chief and the door was once again closed

"Okay Sarah what's this about you needing a computer to write your two weeks notice, and right when two people who I don't even know show up"

"Okay first of all the two people out there are FBI agents, what's more they're my case agents. Second of all my name isn't Sarah, it's Karen, Karen Kerenai"

"Wait the same Kerenai who died early winter near Yellowstone National Park?"

"The very same. I know I lied to you but I had to, I won't go into detail now especially considering everything I need to do by the end of the day but I want to tell everyone my story tomorrow at my place seeing as how we have the day off tomorrow"

"I'm surprised you didn't have a resignation letter the moment you arrived considering what you just told me which is practically nothing at all"

"I know I was thinking about doing exactly that but I was drafted into the forest services pretty quickly and didn't have much of a chance then, afterwords it slipped my mind being as busy as we were once I was with you permanently because that one week vacation was exactly that, a vacation, though I did take certain precautions for my own safety"

"Okay fine you have permission to have a computer to write your resignation letter and I'll make sure the right people have it by the end of the day. Tomorrow though you'd better explain the full situation including just why FBI agents have you as a case"

"Don't worry you'll get answers tomorrow I promise"

By the end of the day Karen had written her resignation form and signed it making it official once she handed it over to the Captain and one of the Chief's had decided to check in on the station because of how busy they had been and she wanted to make sure everyone was okay so she also saw the resignation and also Karen's reason's why and the Chief accepted the resignation right then and there because the Chief herself knew what it was like starting over and needing to hide who you were. Back when the Chief was just ten her father witnessed something and when he turned that information over to the authorities he and her family had to go into Witness Protection. The Chief still hadn't contacted any of her old family members because the threat still hadn't passed, though she had told the Marshals that once the threat did pass she would leave Witness Protection. When the Chief saw her reasons she was amazed that there was a modified version of Witness Protection now, but then saw that it was the FBI that had arranged all of this and realized that Karen wasn't part of Witness Protection, at least not officially, she was just in deep hiding with the permission of the government

"So you're going to give full explanations to the crew tomorrow at your place?"

"Yes ma'am"

Just then more people in suits came but Karen didn't recognize these people and went into a defensive mode without being noticeable when she saw that the Chief did recognize them so she activated the contacts and saw that they were part of the US Marshals and as such she stood down and simply let the three talk about whatever it was that they needed to talk to her about. Once that was done the Chief went back over to Karen and asked to see her in the office

"Once it's announced that you're alive do you think that the EDC would be able to help someone get their life back after having been hidden by the government since she was ten years old?"

"Chief?"

"I was in Witness Protection until now, my dad witnessed something back when I was ten and the family was put into Witness Protection until such a time as it's safe to come home if we so choose. I was just given the paperwork stating I am now out of the program of my own choosing due to the fact that the danger has passed. If they do accept to help me I can be a firefighter for them though I will not have any military training under my belt"

"I'll see what I can do Chief, and we'll be announcing my return tomorrow after I talk to the crew that I've served with for months now"


	14. Chapter 14

Karen then went down to the police station because she had to write down a report about an incident involving her and a car shortly before shift and that's when she discovered that the report had to wait because the police had been hacked. Since she was legally herself again even though no one knew about it Karen offered her services

"What can you do about it?"

"Oh I have my ways, and Chief if you allow me to help you can't reveal what you see on your computer because I am allowing you to watch me but it has to be on your computer in your office because that's the only secure computer with the right firewalls"

"Very well then"

Karen is led to the chief's office and she quickly gets to work and the Chief, having been to a seminar recently that involved EDC kids recognized what was going on though he didn't truly recognize the security codes quite yet

"This guy is good, I just happen to be better, after all I have the highest security clearance in the country after the President"

"That's not possible only one person has that clearance and she's dead"

"Sorry Chief Karen Kerenai at your service, had to fake my death to keep others alive, will fully reveal myself tomorrow after I talk to my crew in private at my house. Now then just a little bit more and I should have the hacker's location and the system cleared of any viruses they may have left behind"

Ten minutes later Karen declared the system safe and then gave the Chief the location of the hacker. While officers were taking care of the hacker Karen was filing the report she had come to file originally

"Thomas, where will  _that_ happen tomorrow?"

"The station, because that's really the only place I could think of that made sense, and by the way chief you're going to be getting a phone call soon about  _that_  because security will be needed"

"Don't worry I already know what to do and how to work things out for  _that_ "

"Okay, see the officers tomorrow then"

As she left she heard a few officers ask what  _that_  was but the chief said everything would be explained tomorrow. She goes home and starts the preparation to move back to where she belonged which was with Yellowstone and the town nearest the National Park, and there really wasn't much preparations she had to do because she did live like she could move at any moment, when suddenly she heard a lot of screaming and so she ran outside and saw that a house was on fire so she started the emergency services and called for a firetruck and ambulance knowing that both would be critical after that she ran over to help any way she could and that's when she discovered that the family was deaf

*Is there anyone left in the house? *

*Yes our daughter, she's deaf as well, all of us are *

*Don't worry the firetruck is on the way *

Just then she heard the sirens and was relieved so see firefighters, she quickly went to the Captain knowing that he would be the one in charge

"Captain there's still a girl in there, she's deaf as is the rest of the family who managed to get out"

"Thanks for the information"

"No problem...got an extra turn coat?"

"That's a negative, besides we can't involve civilians"

"I'm a firefighter too, off duty but a firefighter"

"Then help keep the family calm if possible"

"No problem, knowing sign language comes in handy in situations like this"

"Good, explain what we're going to do then, we've already alerted others to the fact that the family is deaf so the hospital should be prepared with a certified interpreter"

"Okay then, I'll keep the family in check, you get the girl"

Finally the girl was out and the entire family was on the way to the hospital, Karen then had to give  _another_  statement to the police but finally she was finished for the day and simply went to sleep. The next day Karen woke up and made breakfast knowing that her crew would be there early enough that they would need to be fed and she was right

"Okay Thomas what's this all about?"

"This is about my resignation yesterday and who those two people were that came to see me"

"You told me that they were FBI and that you were a case for them"

"That's true. First of all you should know that my name isn't Sarah Thomas, that's a name the government gave me when I had to fake my death a few months ago. Second of all I wouldn't have lied if it wasn't for the fact that it kept everyone safe. Now then as I said my name isn't Sarah Thomas, it's Karen Kerenai...yes the same Kerenai that supposedly died in an accident in December that was staged so that I could escape. You see back when I was about ten I witnessed something making me a key witness, now then we managed to put him away but he escaped and I was told about it so I had to fake my death because the guy after me or his associates could easily kill me. I was in a crash that was supposedly lethal and then flew here and you guys actually know the story from there. Now then we're going to go to the station for an official press conference and that is where I will officially be declared alive again. After that in two weeks I will be going back to my old job in Yellowstone"

"Basically replacing the SEAT that replaced you"

"Hey she was the one who stated that she won't believe my death for two years seeing as how she's a fellow EDC kid"

"True enough"

The group headed to the station and after the announcement that shocked everyone it became a semi-grueling question and answer session most of which Karen answered but a few the FBI answered because they had the answers where Karen didn't

"Kerenai are you looking to return to Yellowstone after this?"

"Yes I am returning to Yellowstone, but that is not happening for two weeks in order to give the station enough time to find a replacement which I will help with the training until it is time for me to leave. I am also hoping that Yellowstone keeps Lauren on staff even after I return because of the fact that I am in the reserves plus if I am injured badly enough I will need someone to step up to the plate until I heal enough to return to duty. Just like I did for the forest service during the arsonist attacks after they lost their SEAT in an accident I hope Lauren is allowed to do the same for me whenever I am unavailable"

"Do your jobs know that you are alive?"

"Yes the FBI informed them yesterday after they informed me that it was safe for me to come out of hiding"

"Now then are you sure Lauren isn't a reserve soldier like you are and can replace you at need?"

"Yes, you weren't paying attention when that was mentioned in the newspaper but I did in case I could return before her deadline was up"

"Okay then, you know we won't work you as much as possible so that you can pack for the trip"

"Oh I'm basically already packed chief, I do have clothes left to pack and I also have a few items as well that I bought while here but I lived like I could be deployed at a moments notice and didn't really buy anything if it wasn't necessary"

"So you basically only bought a bed, dresser and dishes?"

"Pretty much yes and for the dishes I already have someone who needs them after I am done so I won't be taking those with me"

"Okay then you will get a semi-normal schedule, we'll still give you time to pack up and give away what you need and arrange anything you need to move what you aren't giving away but other than that you'll have a normal schedule. Do you have a place to live once you move?"

"Don't worry I will live at the base during fire season but the FBI actually bought my house when I was 'killed' so that I could keep my home, after I die for real or move for any reason the house will become an FBI safe house because the FBI bought it through places that can't be placed to them for safety reasons"

"Are you sure you should be telling us this?"

"Don't worry, you won't be able to reveal what I just told you, all you'll remember is that I have a place to live"

"What..."

Suddenly everyone's eyes glazed over for a minute and when they were clear again they picked up the conversation pretty much where they left off though they didn't remember the FBI part. What had happened to them was that when Karen was younger she accidentally erased and modified part of Captain Faireborn's memory after a devastating crash and when she meditated that night she found that her powers included modification of memory during times of need which she defined as either something too overwhelming happening and people needing to be calm or if there was information that should not have been leaked leaked but only by her and no major modifications could be made either

"So you have a place to live then that's good, anything else we need to know before you get back home for two days?"

"No sir"

"Okay then"

"One more thing Kerenai though you'll have a regular schedule if things get too severe suddenly we  _will_  change your schedule at a moment's notice so that you're safe enough to fly back to your home"

"Wait, I thought I would be taking a plane back"

"We have an extra plane that needs minor repairs but unfortunately we can't have the replacement parts sent here. Instead soon after Yellowstone found out you were alive they mentioned that we could use their place as a holding station and they would take care of the repairs if we sent you back in the plane. After the repairs are done we're going to switch pilots because one of our pilots has requested a transfer to Yellowstone and a Yellowstone pilot has requested transfer to San Fran"

"Okay then that makes sense, I guess you saw I am certified to fly any plane at a moments notice, though I mainly focused on my SEAT certification"

"Exactly"

"Wait so does that mean I'll have a passenger with me?"

"Guess so, I totally forgot about that, don't worry they're also experienced and are actually certified for this aircraft so most likely you'll be the passenger and he'll be the pilot"

The next two weeks were actually pretty average weeks and Kerenai was able to report to the forest service and there she met her new teammate and during the flight they got to know each other pretty well, in fact part of the reason why they got so used to each other was a storm that forced them to land suddenly because the storm was that quick in forming and was also extremely dangerous

"So about how many fires do you think that storm caused?"

"Who knows but since we're not in Yellowstone we can't do much and besides we don't even know if any fires were started"

"You have a point Kerenai...so how mad do you think your teammates are going to be?"

"I have absolutely no idea, I know for a fact that those that are EDC kids will understand but everyone else is a mystery in regards to their reactions"

"We'll be at Yellowstone soon enough and then you'll find out for sure"

"I know and that's what worries me"

Soon enough they were at Yellowstone and Karen's team decided to greet the new team member and tell him where to park the plane so that it could be repaired and seemingly ignored Karen right from the start but that wasn't actually the truth. What Karen didn't know was that they  _knew_  she would want to get reacquainted with her plane and that there were two more people she would want to meet as well, OK sort of two people in reality but they considered the two actual people and in keeping with the fact that no one wanted panicked people even if everyone knew about the Cybertronians it was decided that Karen's surprises would have a pilot and driver. Karen met their expectations quickly enough when she saw that the group was getting to know their new team member she went to the hanger and instantly found Powerglide and she simply went up to him and started rubbing him even though she knew he would never feel her or talk to her again

"I missed you Powerglide, and I'm sorry I had to be away for so long"

"Hey everyone understood though"

Karen turned at the voice and was shocked at what she saw

"Springer? I thought you were on Cybertron"

"Well I asked the Primes and Megatron if I could leave active duty and when they asked me what I would do I decided to become a rescue chopper and fight fires like you were doing, Inferno joined me mainly because the two of us are tired Karen, we're so tired of fighting and seeing our friends die sometimes for no real reason. If they need us they'll call but it has to be desperate or we ourselves are under attack for us to fight now and everyone here understands that"

"When did you guys join and get certified?"

"Shortly after your 'death' we came back the day of actually and when we found out we just...broke and knew we needed to get away from the war"

"Then it looks like I'll be going to the lodge to catch up on Inferno sometime soon"

"Actually he comes here on a regular basis to give us heads up about anything he thinks we should know about, he tries to visit us at least twice a day sometimes more if he can manage but most of the time the updates are via radio. In fact he's supposed to come up within a few minutes anyways because he likes to meet any new team members that might come in so that he knows what to expect and also gets to know the people in case someone isn't here that he would expect and the only person available is a new person"

"So this ways he already knows who's authorized to be on base and will know to alert people to suspicious activity"

"Exactly Karen, so the FBI told us the full story when they revealed the truth but they can't tell us how you coped during that time period"

Karen quickly spilled all to Springer when suddenly she heard another familiar voice

"So this is your replacement John"

"Yep, this is Carl, seeing as how I wanted to transfer to San Fran and he wanted to transfer to here at pretty much the same time it all worked out"

"I thought that another pilot was supposed to be here"

"She is now where's..."

The chief stops talking as soon as Karen gets out of the hanger

"Hey Inferno been a while"

"Same to you Karen, next time don't pull that stunt"

"Hey I wouldn't have pulled that stunt if you all weren't in danger"

"You know full well we can take care of ourselves"

"Oh yeah? I would think that the FBI would have informed you about the weapons the group had at their disposal"

"Come on you know normal weapons don't harm us"

"Specially designed weapons do though and they  _had_  those weapons Inferno. One of those weapons was the same type of weapon that killed Powerglide I couldn't take the chance that they would find and attack the base killing my entire family that was on Earth, only those on Cybertron would have been safe and you guys know how much I care about my  _entire_  family be they on Cybertron or Earth"

"You're right, sorry we never got those reports though so we didn't know that we were in danger as well we just assumed that you didn't want to risk your firefighting family even though we could have protected them"

"That's strange I thought that the FBI gave you the entire report about the weapons the group had"

"Either way it's good to have you back Karen"

"And it's good to be back chief"

"Have you kept up your qualifications?"

"As best as possible yes"

"Good, now then we're going to have to get used to you again so we're going on a training mission in two hours, that gives you enough time to fuel up and do a basic run"

"Works for me, what about you Carl?"

"Works for me as well"

While that was going on something no one was expecting to happen was happening. Everyone knew that about six years earlier Powerglide had been killed in battle but that actually wasn't the truth, what really happened was that he was put in a unique stasis that was supposed to be permanent. What no one knew though was Karen using her powers had sparked something that took a while to kick in when it came to Powerglide's memory and personality cores. Powerglide had slowly been waking up and remembering who he was and what had happened to him, however he had never managed to stay awake for very long, though he did manage to wake up long enough to realize that he had been modified and was now doing another job. He also realized that Karen was the one who was supposed to be his pilot but that something had happened though he didn't know what, but that day the day of Karen's return he had finally fully woken up because Karen had unknowingly let out a bit of her power when she touched him and he had gotten the full story about Karen's disappearance and he also knew that he was most likely considered dead. He also realized pretty quickly that he could no longer transform but he knew that Karen or one of the other two Cybertronians could help fix that problem easily and would also report to his commanding officers that he was alive. He started to leave the hanger while the group was still talking outside

"...we'll also do some drops just to make sure you remember everything Kerenai due to the fact that I have no proof of you keeping up your qualifications"

"Did you hear about the extended fire season in California?"

"Yes what about it?"

"I was the one that replaced...why is my plane moving?"

Everyone turned at that and the plane was indeed moving and that's when the plane spoke for the first time in almost six years

"Springer, Karen, Inferno where are we?"

(Softly) "Power...glide?..." (louder and running) "Powerglide!" *how are you alive? We all thought that you were dead, killed in battle almost six years ago *

*I'm not exactly sure myself Karen, one moment I was fighting and the next I'm here, I've been slowly waking up for almost a year now but it's been slow going though you should know I have all my memories. I was wondering why can't I transform? *

*We took your transformation cog out when we thought you were dead, killed in battle, we had you transform one final time force ably so that you could become what you are now though you dusted crops for four years until I could get my pilot's license and be old enough to join the fire service *

*What about the military? *

*I'm in the reserves, like I have been since I was five *

*I'm guessing my comms are busted too? *

*Yes they are but we can contact the group now if you want *

*That would be great Springer thanks *

*Powerglide, after we fix you up what do  _you_  want to do? I understand if you wanted to go into battle again though you've been out of action for almost six years *

*No, I was thinking about leaving the battlefield after that battle anyways and besides I'm still going to be fighting out here it will just be a different battlefield, one that some might think is more important *

*Well we'll still be activating everything that was deactivated just in case trouble reaches us here *

*Good to know, now I think we need to switch back to English *

"So got it out of your system yet?"

"Sorry chief it's just..."

"I know, I was one of the people that were told when you transferred here and besides how long has it been since you actually spoke one of your two native languages?"

"It's been a while"

"Figures, oh by the way you know the uniform policy that you mentioned?"

"Yeah has a decision finally been made now that it's known that I'm alive?"

"Yes, you will have two uniforms per branch and they are waiting in your room"

"Good to know, does my town chief know about me?"

"Yes she does and she wants to talk to you about something after you get back"

"Okay...wait she?"

"Yes she, the old chief retired while you were hidden and another chief took his place now then about the group you were hiding from..."

"They've been known to attack public servants, shortly after I took the main boss away I was unintentionally at a fire because I was visiting with some non EDC kid friends and there was faulty wiring that started a fire. The group after me found out and when I tried to help even a little with the firefighters they shot at the group killing one firefighter and injuring two others, an officer and paramedic were also injured in the shootout and the only reason others weren't hurt or killed was because SWAT came and defused the situation rather quickly and they stayed on scene until they were sure it was safe. Afterwords when I found out what had happened I decided to stay away from first responders if at all possible until I made my decision to become a SEAT pilot, when I made that decision the FBI and I came to an agreement that they would discreetly watch me and my crew when possible and they would let me know if any danger was present so that I could leave if necessary"

"Like last winter"

"Exactly chief like last winter"

"Well at least you're home and after we get some training in I'll give you time off to meet the chief that wants to talk to you"

"And if there's a fire?"

"That's when Lauren will take over after all she is your replacement whenever you're away on assignment for the military"

"Wait Lauren, do you even have a place and a job for whenever you aren't here?"

"Indeed I do Karen, you see I was in the same grade as you throughout the school years but I knew I wanted to be a firefighter since I was six, my dad was an EDC officer until he died when I was seventeen but my mom was a firefighter until shortly before my graduation and shortly before I started school she took me to her workplace one day with dad and her both having the day off but she had some paperwork to fill out so she came in on a day off to do so because it was actually paperwork to return from medical leave after she broke her wrist some weeks earlier during a rescue. We stayed at the station for a while and I got fascinated with her job, and I've been fascinated ever since. After I graduated I decided to become a firefighter and a SEAT pilot like you because I remembered seeing a forest fire when I was twelve and knew that I wanted to be part of that so I also got SEAT certification at around the same time as you did but in a different National Park thus the reason we never met during training, when I heard of your 'death' I decided to transfer here working during fire season here and being a firefighter in a nearby town during the off season"

"Oh have you met Kevin then?"

"No, I decided on another town to work in and they understand that I might have to leave on occasion to help here during fire season whenever you're away because after it was revealed that you were alive I went to my boss and explained that while I might not be needed during fire season there was a chance because of the fact that you are in the reserves and he understands that having a brother in the reserves himself"

"So he understands that you might be called in during fire season if something comes up and I'm deployed for any reason"

"Exactly and he won't even need to get a replacement firefighter whenever I'm replacing you because we're such a big station we always make sure to have at least two extra firefighters per shift in case someone winds up injured or the fire is bigger than first expected and we need as many people as possible out there and the extra firefighters stay at the station unless otherwise needed, the same goes for paramedics as well"

"Well that's good to know, sorry I took over before you even got a chance to fly with the team"

"I'm just glad that you're alive, and besides I'm going to stay here and help out however I can for a few days so that I can get in some training with everyone including you Kerenai"

"Um you'll never fly with me though Lauren"

"Actually that's not completely accurate because while I am a spare SEAT pilot there might be times when the fire is so big there are more than one SEAT pilot's needed"

"Oh...didn't think about that"

"That's what I thought"

"Okay you win"

Just then everyone heard a distant explosion so everyone turned towards the sound and both Springer and Inferno transformed just in case while Karen ran to the edge of a lookout point and activated her contacts and scanned the area to see what it was and she quickly found out

"Someone put a grill tank too close to an open flame for too long and the tank exploded...and now it looks like a fire's started and spreading fast"

Just then there were more explosions like the first and Karen started tracking them and quickly realized what was going on

"Chief! I think we have an arsonist on our hands because this is deliberate and in too many places to be an accident we're going to need some back up on this"

"On it Kerenai, okay everyone let's move, Inferno I technically have no authority over you but get yourself back over to the lodge in case we call for an evacuation"

"Understood"

Meanwhile Karen turned back towards the group who were already in their assigned planes and started running

"Powerglide start up and we're going to do a move and jump just like we practiced when I was younger and had to get out of situations quickly!"

Powerglide moves towards the edge of the runway building up speed and half way there Karen jumps in like old times never having forgotten due to the fact that whenever she was with the military she would practice that move at all times possible and quickly gets into the pilots seat


	15. Chapter 15

"Okay Powerglide I'm taking over now, I know what we're doing and you don't, after you get used to it for a bit if you need to take over suddenly for whatever reason you can but you aren't certified while I am"

"Makes sense to me"

"Okay then, after this we'll talk to Ratchet about getting some things reactivated in case of trouble here"

"Okay, by the way I'm thinking that maybe I want to stay like this"

"Discuss this all later fight the fire now okay?"

"Okay"

The battle lasted for quite a few hours but eventually they succeeded in getting the situation contained though the fires weren't completely out yet at least more weren't popping up and so long as the wind didn't shift they had the fires basically in one area that was manageable

"Kerenai, the ground crews are requesting you and Parker for a few hours tonight but first you are to have some dinner and Kerenai you know the food rule"

"Indeed I do, Springer did you ever manage to inform the base about Powerglide before the fire?"

"Nope, I'll do that now though"

"Better hold off on that actually because quite frankly we need the fires out and everything calm again before we make the call because while an evacuation order hasn't been given yet it's still a possibility and if that happens no one will be allowed in unless they're part of the firefighting team until further notice"

"Okay you have a point we'll wait then"

Karen and Lauren have a quick meal and then support the ground crew for three hours and afterwords headed back to base for sleep. The next day they were back to fighting fires again but this time things didn't go as smoothly and Karen made a move that would surprise most people but not this crew because they knew of both Karen's and Lauren's past and they also knew about the training both had

"Powerglide we're going to finish this load and then you're going to head back to base and stay there grounded until further notice"

"What about you?"

Karen pushes the dump button and then flips a few more switches that she knew needed flipped and then stands up and puts on a parachute

"I'm going to be taking care of a small problem"

With that she jumps out of Powerglide and quickly activates the shoot. Within minutes she was on the ground and armed for a fight because she had seen the person starting the fires and they were armed with guns and knives while Karen only had knives available at the moment because she didn't think about carrying her gun but she knew the weapons that were being used and she also knew her training would get her through. She quickly attacked the arsonist and after a brief fight with both of them using their knives she got the upper hand and subdued the guy. She then chose a safe path and escorted him to the edge of the fire where there were firefighters and police officers. The reason the police were there were really in case evacuation was made necessary so that the firefighters would be free to do their jobs while the police did the traffic control when they saw Karen come out with another person who was definitely  _not_  authorized they knew she had apprehended the arsonist but they had to ask her about it anyways for formalities sake

"Is this the arsonist?"

"Indeed it is officers, maybe now we can finally put out the fires instead of just containing them with him locked up and not causing any problems"

"Okay one of us will escort him out of here and another will give you a ride back to your base...wait how did your plane get back safely?"

"That will be explained at another time officer but for now I'll stick with the ground crew, that smoke is getting thicker every time and quite honestly while smoke is relatively safe it's affecting our vision and will soon get to the point where we're at nighttime restrictions"

"Does your boss know about it?"

"We were discussing it yes, I'll radio in when I meet up with a crew and join them"

"Okay"

Karen meets up with a ground crew and radios the chief where she was and why she decided to stay on the ground

"Makes sense to me Kerenai, I've been thinking about grounding the crew since your last dump due to how much smoke is in the air, why'd you jump out of your plane anyways?"

"Had to catch the arsonist"

(Sigh of relief) "I thought we would never catch the guy, finally a break"

"I know, I'll be here until further notice chief afterwords..."

Suddenly Karen stopped and put her hand to her head for a moment and then continued speaking

"Afterwords I'll come back for sleep, and chief tell Lauren and my friends that we might have to activate the omega contingency for me to keep everyone safe, they'll explain the contingency and tell you how it works before it's needed and don't worry you'll know pretty quickly if it's needed"

Karen cuts communications and simply goes back to work meanwhile the chief passed on the information he was asked to

"Lauren, Powerglide, Springer, what do you know of Karen's omega contingency?"

"The omega contingency? Chief is the contingency for her to keep everyone safe?"

"Yes why?"

Springer is the one to speak up

"The omega contingency is a plan Karen designed at age seven, two years after her powers activated after an accident during personal training where some people were hurt, it was mainly their fault but Karen instantly realized just how dangerous her powers truly were for the first time since they had activated after hearing some information from us. She came up with a plan to stop her if she ever fell under alien control and needed to be stopped so that she didn't hurt anyone, this plan is both simple and complicated at the same time. The plan involves incapacitating Karen with a special sedative that we all carry on us at all times in needs both Cybertronian sized and human sized, and when I say needles I mean the syringes and not the actual needle part"

"That sounds pretty simple to me what's so hard about that?"

Lauren was the one to speak up this time

"The hard part is her powers, you guys told me after I mentioned Karen having abilities no other EDC kids have that she told you guys about her powers after an incident that forced her to use her shields. What you  _don't_  know is that the shields are only a portion of her abilities and they're nearly impossible to break if it's just for her. She also has offensive abilities with those powers as well and that's her main source of defense actually when it comes to her powers, the hardest part about Karen being under alien influence is that we're going to have to get close enough and past her shields in order to give her the sedative, after that we're going to have to find a place to contain her safely until we can get rid of whatever influence she might be under. But like I said getting close enough is going to be rough because her defense is automatic in regards to her powers if she thinks she's in danger"

"After that we're going to have to watch her temper because she can be destructive when angry"

"Seen that in person?"

"Oh yeah, it was shortly after we discovered her powers that we found out how destructive they can be and we set her off accidentally too"

"Why do I get the feeling she wouldn't have mentioned this plan if she didn't think it was a possibility?"

"Because she wouldn't have, mainly due to the fact that she knows how much her family hates that plan even though we see the sense of having such a plan in place"

"How fast will we know if we need to use the contingency plan?"

"Almost immediately, especially because we as her family would feel it. We can detect her bio-signature easily because of the fact that she's lived with us since she was two months old, which means if something changes we'll know instantly and we've discovered from other people that the bio-signature especially the brainwaves changes under another's influence"

Meanwhile Karen was continuing to fight the fire from the ground and finally they had a report that all the fires were out

"That's good, we'll have to keep an eye out for a little bit but at least no one will have to evacuate because of the fire and there's currently no more risk to either people or wildlife"

"Yes but like you said we're still going to have to keep an eye out for a few days in case of another flare up for any reason"

"Exactly, plus we got the arsonist so unless weather turns against us we should be fine"

Just then though Karen heard a sound she had hoped never to hear again

"Captain, tell both our chief's to get an evacuation order ready and for one of them to call the EDC, tell them that we have Kaltranians here and I need backup"

"What are you talking about, and just what are you going to do?"

"Give you guys time to clear the area, if it looks like the fight is heading towards the lodge I'll try and buy you guys enough time for an evacuation to be executed and hope like crazy that the EDC gets here in time and also tell my chief to inform certain people that the omega contingency is a big possibility now"

"And just how are you going to fight aliens Kerenai?"

"Don't worry I have my ways"

And just like that all of a sudden Karen had a sword in her hand and she was rushing towards the enemy so the Captain knew what he had to do

"Everyone out of the area, we have to contact the two chief's while we're at it too but for now evacuate"

While Karen fights the Captain makes his report to the two chiefs and after they got the report the Cybertronians were officially in charge


	16. Chapter 16

"Okay, these guys do have the ability to take over someone's mind so we're going to have to be careful about that. Lauren even though you decided not to become a soldier have you kept up your permits?"

"Indeed I have, I even go shooting whenever possible and I have a few of my weapons with me, the rest are back at home still because to be honest I wasn't sure what I would need and what I wouldn't"

"Okay, Karen also has some weapons stored here which you might not have but I know for a fact that she'll allow you to use them, you stay here Lauren as you're the last line of defense"

"I know and I won't argue, just make sure to bring Karen back safely, we EDC kids might not have believed her death easily if we knew her but it still hurt and she only just came back and we want her around for a good while before we lose her for real"

"Don't worry we'll keep her safe after we deal with the Kaltranians we'll..."

All of a sudden Springer and Powerglide stop what they're doing and then it's obvious that they were angry

"Lauren you're evacuating as well you are no longer the last line of defense when it comes to the Kaltranians"

"Don't tell me"

"Indeed we are"

"Okay, this is going to get complicated, are you sure I can't help with her?"

"Positive you don't have the training needed to fight her, yes you do have some self defense training but not enough not with the fact that she also has military training on top of regular self defense training"

"And with her abilities being automatic at times when she's defending herself against a strong opponent it equals trouble I'm not trained for"

"True, but she was fighting a while before she was taken over so hopefully the enemy is weakened themselves, after this we'll inform our leaders about you Powerglide"

"I can fight, remember when Karen mentioned she reactivated some of my systems?"

"Oh yeah"

_Early that morning_

*Hey guys there's something you two and Inferno need to know *

*What? *

*I've reactivated some systems that you might need and that I can on my own *

*Is that why you shut me down for a bit shortly before you went to bed? *

*Exactly, now then some of the systems are manual activation but others are not, don't worry you'll know what's manual and what's not when you do a systems scan but make sure the scans are necessary before you do so because quite honestly I hope you don't need them before we inform the family about you being alive *

*Okay I'll wait *

_Present_

"It looks like she reactivated my weapons systems which means I can join the fight, just can't transform like I should"

"Maybe you should stay grounded then, she told you to before she jumped"

"That was before she had to fight an enemy that now has control over her"

"Okay you win you're in the fight, but man are the others going to be surprised about you"

"Not our fault we haven't contacted them and to be honest is made sense"

"Indeed it did, at the time it did indeed make sense so hopefully they won't be too mad at us"

"The enemy on the other hand we can be extremely angry at because of what they've done"

"Wait what about comms?"

"They're reactivated as well"

"Okay then"

"Guys, if Karen goes after us what should I do?"

"Just do your best to survive, however you should know that when last we saw her she had such control over her powers that she could activate them without speaking"

The Chief overheard the conversation and spoke up

"That's true, according to the Captain she was with when the Kaltranians showed up she told him to get the men away while she stayed behind, when he asked what she could do she simply said that she had her ways and all of a sudden there was a sword in her hand"

"That's her mental call of her powers alright, looks like she's as strong as ever with those"

"Okay let's hope she doesn't go after us then"

"Well either way she's headed this way though so is the EDC but it will still take a bit of time"

"Okay, get out of here you two and Lauren here you might need this"

Lauren is handed a gun she knew quite well because when she turned seventeen that summer she decided to see if she wanted to work in a zoo so she did some volunteer work there and discovered that while she liked animals she wasn't cut out to work with wild ones. While there though she was taught a bit about what zoos do including the vets and was introduced to a tranquilizer gun and Lauren instantly knew that's what she had been handed

"Just in case"

"Understood, maybe you shouldn't have trained her endurance to last three days"

"How else would she have survived some of the situations she's been in if we hadn't though?"

"Okay you have a point but still, her endurance is ridicules because of that"

"We know, now get going"

While the fire team escaped the three Cybertronians fought Karen to a standstill. Five hours later the EDC arrived along with Karen's family and that's when they received the surprise of Powerglide alive

"Powerglide how are you alive?"

"Talk later Ratchet right now we have to knock Karen out and get her secured, after we defeat the Kaltranians we should be able to break their control, we'll explain everything about Powerglide after that and we  _were_  going to contact you about him, but we had to get the fire under control first"

"Fine, but you are undergoing a full scan afterwords"

"Works for me, we all might need attention later...lookout"

All of a sudden the group was dodging Karen's necklace for a good reason. Over the years while helping Karen control her powers the necklace also absorbed a bit of her powers, alone it would never be strong enough to truly take out an enemy but it absorbed enough that whenever Karen chose to she could use the necklace as a ranged weapon. They also had to dodge chains

"So when did the necklace become a weapon? And how long has she also had chains?"

"The necklace has been a weapon since she was sixteen, as for the chains that must have happened while she was hidden away because we had no idea about those"

"Well we have to keep dodging and hope we get a chance to knock her out"

"We're working on it...Primes I have an idea but it might not work"

"What is it Megatron?"

"Remember that Decepticon weapon I mentioned shortly after we formed the alliance that would ultimately re-merge our species?"

"What of it?"

"Starscream keeps it on him at all times just in case it's ever needed due to mind controlling aliens, but we've modified it so that instead of killing someone it just knocks them out cold for several hours. Captain Faireborn volunteered accidentally as a test subject one day when we were making modifications and she was in the room at the wrong time when we were testing it's power source. Once fired it will knock out both Karen and the Kaltranians for five hours without a reversal drug that we also developed in case any allies were in the vicinity of the weapon, with the reversal drug it will only take five minutes"

"How do you know about the five hours?"

"Because after we explained the situation to her she volunteered a second time willingly to see how long it would keep an organic down so that we knew how long we had to transfer any prisoners"

"When was this?"

"Back when Karen was only seven months old and since Marissa was needed for something another EDC officer took her to the doctor's for a minor cold"

"Oh yeah I remember that day now, if you're sure it will still work after all this time"

"Don't worry it will we test the power source occasionally to make sure it still works just in case"

"Then go for it Megatron, Starscream but make sure that if Karen is in the air to catch her"

"No problem, what about the Kaltranians?"

"Don't worry they're all on the ground so they'll be safe however with Karen's abilities..."

"Right"

What they were talking about was Karen's jumping power, to get to their height or higher when they were on the ground she used objects to get into the air and she could jump a few feet before having to land as such she could use trees to good effect to reach them because all of them were low and close to the tree tops to take care of the enemy, something they had seen her do before during regular training with them during the school year. Due to the fact that some of the enemies could fly in low orbit basically close to the trees to attack the ground troops they taught Karen how to jump as high as possible once at the top of the trees and as such every flier was in range of Karen's attacks or if she was knocked out cold in range of quickly being caught safely if her family was fast enough

"How much has she improved since I was out of it?"

"A lot Powerglide, you and us can catch up later to give full reports first we need to deal with this situation, Starscream on your mark"

"Now!"

Starscream activated the weapon and Jetfire caught her before she fell into the trees, once that was done they made sure to shield her from any Kaltranian control and then made sure that the Kaltranians left the planet. It would still take three hours for Karen to wake up though due to the fact that she was exhausted after using her powers and even though she was given the reversal her power use exhausted her enough to keep her out cold for a bit but once she was awake she knew that she was safe and also had some explaining to do

"Optimus, Rodimus, Megatron before you get mad at Springer and Inferno for not informing you about Powerglide just know it was my idea because quite frankly we found out literally right before an arsonist struck and I knew that you wouldn't be able to get in for several days after the fire was out so I was the one to make the decision to wait to inform you until I knew that people would be let back in should an evacuation be called for"

"Springer and Inferno already explained it to us and we understand, what we don't understand is why you had to fake your death even if not many of us believed it"

"Sorry but the gang had weapons that could have killed you guys, as it is one of those weapons was the one that almost killed Powerglide and I'm still not sure how he survived that"

"Turns out it was your powers that brought Powerglide back, though only in spurts originally, the day of the fire was the first time he had truly been conscious in a long while. We've fixed everything you couldn't including his transformation cog and he's been given permission to stay here per his request"

"That's good, so you guys got all caught up then?"

"Yes, what happened out there though?"

"That's a complicated story, as it is after they got control over me it was like I was watching a movie"

"Just explain what you truly remember up to the point of them gaining control over you, we'll explain everything that happened afterwords"

Karen gave her report and then her family gave theirs. A few days later the fire crew was allowed back in by the EDC who decided to handle any fires left themselves seeing as how it was the Kaltranians fault that there had still been fires after everything was under control. Once Karen knew that things were under control she went to the lodge to see if she could be of any help there and that's when she got a surprise. Back when she was ten and on a Coast Guard mission one of the Captain's she served with died from drowning, when she arrived at the hospital an hour later due to the fact that she was on a vessel she was told that they had been unsuccessful in reviving him, however that wasn't the entire truth

"Captain you're alive but how?"

"What do you remember of that day Lt.?"

"To be honest I remember basically everything of that day, including why you drowned in the first place"

"That's part of the reason why your family never told you of my survival. You see I did die that day but your family had developed a formula that had the potential to bring people back to life even after being declared dead. As you know several hypothermia victims have succeeded in being brought back but it's tricky and not always successful, your family decided to see if someone could be revived without hypothermia being induced naturally or in a hospital setting. With my family's permission they gave me a drug that succeeded in reviving me but there were side effects. I was paralyzed for two years and it took another two years of rehabilitation before I succeeded in getting as far as I have in walking. I will never have full function of my left leg and as such when the Coast Guard discovered that I was alive but injured they gave me honorable discharge and medical retirement which I don't blame them for. After I finished physical therapy I decided to move as far away from water as possible in order to not be tempted to do anything stupid that would set me back years from what I succeeded. At first we didn't tell you about me being alive due to the side effects, afterwords you weren't told because of your guilt and apparently the fact that your family stopped producing the formula and made sure it was destroyed"

Inferno walked in during that conversation and took it up knowing information that the former Coast Guard Captain didn't

"Yes, you see we discovered that while it could work with side effects as severe as being paralyzed we also discovered that not only was there a chance it wouldn't work but there was also a chance that even if it did work it didn't last longer than two weeks. After that there would be an allergic reaction that was lethal, the Primes and Megatron decided that the formula was too dangerous after that and we destroyed everything regarding that project. We were going to tell you Karen but when we realized that you were feeling too guilty still we knew that you not only wouldn't have believed us but you very well simply might not have listened to us period, and even if you did hearing about the side effects might have made you worse"

"This was because of the fact that we lost Powerglide during that time isn't it?"

"Only part of the reason why, and we lost Powerglide two years after we knew about the side effects, what really tipped us off about your mental state was that visit with the Psychiatrist after that stunt you pulled at school"

"That really wasn't my best moment was it?"

"No it wasn't, as it is the President almost called everything off and was ready to simply keep you off duty until you were of legal age"

"So why wait until I was fifteen to force me to take a break for a summer?"

"We both realized that taking you off duty for so long would only hurt you in the long run, instead there was a compromise your base commander knew what was going on and agreed to keep you on limited duty every few days, in return the base commander had the President's authority to pull you from active duty if he even  _thought_  we were going to lose you mentally"

"Wait is that why I was on base so often?"

"Exactly, I also think that was the year you were given the assignment that allowed you to meet lifeguards"

"No that wasn't the assignment as far as I remember but I do remember being stuck at base a lot more often then normal unless I was  _really_  needed"

"Like when?"

"Massive boat evacuation, turned out that the safe route that as picked was no longer safe due to not only a few mines but also a man made reef that wasn't in the updated charts and the Captain was never told of it until it was too late. The mines were illegal and the person responsible was found and not only fined but I do believe he's still in jail, as for the fact that the Captain hadn't been told about the man made reef and it wasn't in updated charts several people were fined for that as well but no prison, just a warning and being under Coast Guard observation for a few years"

"Either way when we told the Captain about your mental state he decided that you wouldn't be told until you were healed enough to believe and handle the information, unfortunately considering the situations you came across afterwords that never happened"

"And by the time I was ready I was graduating and since you didn't know where I would be stationed after training you decided to wait. But why didn't you tell me after I joined Yellowstone?"

"That's a bit more complicated, we were planning to but other things kept popping up, not to mention the fact that the Captain here got cold feet and decided that until you served here for a few seasons or it was necessary he would keep his survival a secret from you a bit longer, though part of it was that you did need to adjust to everything and he knew that so he's not totally at fault"

"You guys know as well as I do that I only need two weeks a month tops to adjust to a new situation, I have to adjust fast. Remember the memorization technique I developed?"

"The speed memorization we know of it, but we've never figured out how it works"

"It's actually quite easy, I know that I don't have photographic memory so even if I looked at everything for only a few moments I wouldn't be able to give exact details on everything so I compromised instead. I decided that if I couldn't memorize entire maps or reports in an instant I would look at what seemed to be the most important and memorize those few details to give to a commanding officer or someone who might need that information at a later date. While I couldn't exactly use that technique to adjust to new situations I used a modified version of military training where you simply have to toughen up and face the fact that your choice led you to your current situation, I also used that in survival training as well where I thought of it as you need to get your act together or die"

"Okay so you might not have needed as much time as we thought for you to truly adjust but still there were reasons we kept it a secret for so long"

"I know I just don't have to like it is all"

"What I want to know is why you thought my death was your fault"

"But it was if you hadn't been forced to come to my aid..."

"Karen, there's something you still don't know about that day that I didn't find out until I had been in rehab for an entire year. The reason I wasn't told was because it hadn't been discovered until then and even then it was a lucky break made mainly through your family. It turns out that an alien group allied with a terrorist group without the terrorists knowing about it in order to kill you and hurt the EDC in ways they had never been hurt before. The terrorists staged the accident and then had people lay in wait under water in order to drown you but they messed up big time. I was in the water helping a victim when I saw something heading towards you so I went under and began an intense fight however I didn't have scuba gear like the terrorist did so I ultimately drowned"

"But he succeeded in making the terrorists back off from their goal and it turns out he gave your would be attacker a nasty concussion that never got properly treated and as such had lasting effects. When we discovered the truth of that day it was because the terrorists finally realized that their friend needed treatment and came to the police in the hopes that even if they were convicted their friend would receive the medical attention he never got. As we questioned the group we discovered the alien side of the plot and the terrorists weren't exactly pleased about the aliens helping them but they also didn't care at that point. All they wanted was their friend who was in a coma to go to a medical facility to receive the care he deserved for however long he was alive"

"After all of that was discovered your family told me what had really happened that day and I was relieved I could stop a plot to take down the EDC because you know as well as I do that your family would have been devastated at your death. We thought about telling you that day but you were still grieving too much and pulled that stupid move as well which got you a visit to a Psychiatrist on a regular basis, a year later we couldn't because of Powerglide"

"After that you guys simply decided to wait until you were sure nothing would happen that would interfere with me discovering the truth and being given time to absorb what I had been told. Unfortunately for everyone here that simply never happened and I found out today because I decided to check on the lodge before going back to my station"

"Exactly, you were never meant to find out like this but what's done is done"

"I think I understand what's happened now and I can accept it especially considering the fact that you're alive Captain it's just that I wish I was told sooner is all, maybe I wouldn't have done that stupid move that sent me to the psychiatrist if I had known"

"We may never know now Karen but either way at least now you know the full truth"

"You know Captain, that day you died fighting the terrorist you also did come to my aid in regards to the person I was rescuing because he was in such a panic because of my age but seeing you coming to help even if you didn't succeed in your goal made him see that there were people there to help if I needed it, it also showed him that I did have the training needed because you only came  _after_  you saw I wasn't really getting any where's with him"

"That's good to know...Kerenai I think you have visitors"

Karen turned and saw two people in Army uniforms

"What can I do for you Sergeant?"

"We have orders for you Lt."

"Understood, I shall look at them to see what I am supposed to do"

Karen is handed her orders and she realizes that this needed quick action

"Head to the base with me, I need to gather some supplies and my uniforms, we can leave from there"

"Okay, we already have a plane there anyways, we were told to come here instead"

"Yeah I was doing a quick check on this place and discovered someone I had to catch up with, come on let's go"

Karen is soon back at base and is also quickly in uniform


	17. Chapter 17

"Looks like you're replacing me after all Lauren"

"Looks like, I'm just surprised it's so soon after it was revealed you were alive"

"I know but orders are orders Lauren, tell your Captain about this so that you aren't declared AWOL"

"No problem"

"If not for the nature of the emergency Kerenai wouldn't have even been called"

"So you know the situation Sergeant?"

"Yes ma'am I do, and I can't be part of the mission due to...personal reasons"

"I see, looks like you're going to be giving me a more detailed debrief en route"

"Indeed that's exactly why I came ma'am"

"Okay then let's go, Powerglide you already know the rules, Springer keep an eye on everyone including Powerglide he's still adjusting to the full situation"

"Right"

"Keep up the fight and I hope that when I get back this park is still standing"

"it will be, there might be damage depending on how bad the fire is but it will still be standing"

"Chief also keep communication with the EDC going, considering what just happened here I have a feeling we might need them again"

"Understood now get going"

Karen soon gets onto the military transport and they were off

"Okay Sergeant what is going on here?"

"Three weeks ago we received word from a medical camp that things were starting to get hot in their area and that they would start making daily updates in case evacuation was needed, three days ago we lost complete contact with them and haven't managed to regain it, we also can't get anyone close enough to even see the situation and get new intel on the camp. Originally I was supposed to be part of the recon/rescue team but that was before we had a complete list of all the personnel there, after we got the list I realized that there would be a conflict of interest and I pulled myself out immediately due to the fact that my sister is one of the medical team members"

"Okay that is a valid reason to pull out, what was she doing there anyways?"

"She's actually there on an internship to see if working in underdeveloped places is something she's interested in, she's worked hard on her nursing degree but she also wants to travel so she decided to see if going into places that really needed her was something she wanted to do, unfortunately she won't get the chance she wanted due to the attack"

"You going to make her give up her dream?"

"No but there won't be another internship like this as far as I know by the time she graduates and there were no other places offering her this opportunity it turns out. I found all of this out through my mother when I was the one who had to give her the news that her daughter was in a dangerous situation"

"So what exactly is the mission?"

"The mission is first to rendezvous with your fellow team members after that you're to do your best to get to the location of the camp and determine if there are still people there. If there are observe the camp to see if they're alright and if they aren't to rescue everyone you can"

"Understood sir"

Three hours later Karen was on a transport with the rest of her team and they were making final plans and everyone knew the rules about what to do if something happened to any of them

"So are we clear on everything?"

"Indeed we are"

"Okay then, let's see if we can't sneak into that camp"

The group does manage to sneak into the camp and they soon discovered they would have to liberate everyone but it would take a sacrifice each of them were willing to pay and one ultimately did. During battle Karen managed to get separated and was faced with tanks that were indestructible and also used by enemies of the Cybertronians because it would turn out that while local gangs originally took control of the camp aliens that didn't like the EDC killed the gang members and took over the camp for themselves and never made their demands to the EDC because they were waiting until they had control for two days before making contact. Karen knew what to do though and used her powers to cause an explosion, but in the process she appeared to manage to get herself killed, with only her dog tags as a means to identify her as dead but the camp workers and their patients were freed. The group landed on a vessel that was in the area

"Where's Lt. Kerenai? I have some reports she needs to see about the area that no one knew about until just now"

"Dead sir, there was an explosion, we think the enemy caused it she was in the middle of it, all that's left are her dog tags"

"I see. I will be the one to inform her family personally then, this requires...delicate handling all things considered"

"What's going on sir?"

"There's things about Kerenai you aren't cleared to know about that I do. Now then get cleaned up and then get some rest a full report can come later"

"Sir what are we supposed to do about her tags?"

"Leave them with me for the moment, I'll make sure they get to her family"

Meanwhile Karen was very much alive but injured. She managed to use her shields to save herself from her own blast but soon afterwords the survivors picked her up and badly broke her left leg. She knew that she wouldn't need medical retirement due to her powers making sure that everything would line up correctly, but it would take twice as long due to the fact that the leg wasn't properly set. She basically considered herself a prisoner of war and she was  _not_  happy about the situation but she also knew there wasn't much she could do at the moment

"What about our plans to threaten the EDC with the medical team?"

"That's no longer an option, due to the fact that this person is a soldier we'll simply leave them here while we leave, they are of no use to us"

"Sir what about the American government?"

"Apparently they don't negotiate with terrorists, what makes you think they'll negotiate with us?"

"Well, we could make our demands to the EDC because we are alien"

"No we'll simply leave the soldier to die, they can't do much anyways due to what we've done to their leg, even if the leg heals it will never heal correctly and they'll be of no more use to the military, besides that explosion will probably make them think that the soldier is dead"

"What caused the explosion anyways?"

"I don't know and quite frankly it doesn't matter to me, we're leaving now"

"Yes sir"

The group abandoned Karen to her fate not knowing that she was a survivor. She knew that she was probably declared dead and as such she prepared herself for a very long wait while her leg healed up properly, after that her plans were to go to a nearby town she knew of and make contact with the American government from there

"I just hope that when I finally do get the chance to make contact even if they don't believe me they'll come and arrest me as an impostor until my identity can be proven...this is going to take a while"

Karen's family was told about her death by the Captain in person and while they were mourning Karen's death Karen was focusing on healing and getting ready for her return. Neither side knew it would be a year until Karen could reveal herself because right as she was getting ready to go to the village the country she was in was taken over by the military basically starting a coup and that meant that Karen was stuck where she was doing her best to keep herself free and also helping the proper government get back into power because everyone disapproved of the coup but couldn't do much against the weapons of the military. That meant no one could or would fight, but Karen who was a living weapon had no such fear and knew what to do to help the proper government get back in control like they belonged. Karen didn't give her true name though just in case she or anyone who knew her was ever captured, that ways unless a blood scan or fingerprinting was done no one would know her true identity

"Lauren there's a weapons shipment coming through our area in two days what do you want to do?"

"Let's attack and then take the weapons for ourselves our supplies are starting to run a bit low"

"So we noticed. What do our leaders say about an attack on the capital?"

"Not yet guys, there's a few more things we need to get and we also need a bit more intel before we take any action on the capital, don't worry when the time is right we'll truly go into action"

"Lauren I've been wondering just how and why did you join us in the first place?"

"That's something I can't get into and it's also something not easily explained, however have you ever wondered how I was able to find out about you guys?"

"Actually yes we were, including our leaders for a bit but all of a sudden they just simply said they knew what you were about and left things be"

"Well while I can't go into the full story I can explain that I actually joined you guys initially because you were the ones who found  _me_  and were kind to me. I didn't know originally that you were part of the group fighting to bring back the rightful government all I knew was that you made sure my leg was healing properly and that I had food after I mentioned I hadn't eaten in almost a week due to poor hunting. After I was fed and was checked over I decided to stay for a bit to see if there was anything I could do to repay you guys even if it was only helping with medical care or food. Your leaders agreed though they tried to tell me to go to a village to live in but I said that I wanted to help you guys any way possible because there was simply something about the group though I couldn't really identify it at the time. One day I was looking for one of your leaders to talk about a food run when I saw a map and as soon as I saw that map I realized it was the capital city of this place, your leader came back at the same time and simply said that he was an architect and as such he wanted to look at maps of the city in the interest to see how it had been planned. I didn't believe him though and started following him though he was good at evasion, but after two days I managed to sneak into a meeting of your leaders and that's how I found out who you guys truly were. I made myself known and offered my services in more than just medical and food care and we came to an agreement"

"How do you know how to fight?"

"That's part of what your leaders know about me but you won't find out unless necessary"

"Come on we have a scouting mission Lauren"

"Okay let's go"

So the two scout one of the places they were going to attack once they had the weapons but then noticed something that would change everyone's plans drastically


	18. Chapter 18

"Come on Captain, we'd better report this to the bosses"

"Yeah"

So the two come back way early in the minds of the rest of the group

"Okay, I thought I told you guys to stay put until further notice"

"You're not going to like this sir, we need to contact the EDC this has just gotten a lot more complicated then a simple coup"

The two show the group the picture they managed to capture

"What are those things?"

"In simple terms trouble. They're called Nakodians, and their primary job is the galaxies assassins however they are also considered guns for hire which means if you have the money they'll take on any job the client wants including guarding the capital so that the rightful government doesn't regain it's hold despite what the citizens want. As assassins these guys have the best aim and don't waste any ammo even if they aren't using assassin weapons, they will kill anyone that has been identified as a threat and they don't care if they kill people that aren't their targets if you're in their way they  _will_  kill you even if you have no part of the target. They're also almost impossible to kill because of their skills that are trained from an extremely young age, even younger than EDC kids who want to learn how to defend themselves"

"How young?"

"As soon as they start to walk they start learning the assassin ways, they start learning to kill before they can even really talk and by the time they're the legal age in America they've already had at least a dozen missions under their belt, mainly because they start going on missions with their family at age fifteen solo missions start at age seventeen. By the time they reach their mid to late twenties they have their own assassin names that are feared throughout the galaxy and can back up their reputation. You don't want one of them to have you as a target because otherwise you have no chance of surviving"

"So what exactly are we supposed to do about them?"

"Like I said call the EDC in and explain the situation, in fact I should be the one to call it in using a code that hasn't been seen in a while, it will blow my cover completely but considering the situation I can't remain hidden any longer. After the EDC deals with the Nakodians you guys can deal with the military that staged the coup in the first place and those targets will be a lot easier than the Nakodians"

"How do we know these Nakodians won't also be in the capital"

"That's why there will be an adviser from the EDC that will stay in case something like that happens, they'll be able to tell you the best way to handle that situation and will also have the authority to call EDC forces back in to deal with the Nakodians"

"You seem to know a lot about the EDC and their ways Lauren, and you also seem to know about their enemies too"

"There's a reason behind that Captain, and I'm about to reveal it to the world"

"Lauren are you  _sure_  you want to reveal this now?, if these Nakodians hack into our signal and find the code specifically  _your_  code..."

(Sighs) "I forgot about that, you're right I shouldn't transmit that code, not until we're sure of the Nakodians defeat"

"Will the EDC that come here keep the secret if they find out?"

"If ordered to yes, but they won't find out, you know as well as I that I know how to hide myself, after all you were the one who trained me to do so"

"And I regret that now"

"Considering it's the only thing that's kept me alive at times I don't and let's face it maybe I can use that training to help us with the current situation"

"Don't even think about it you yourself mentioned how deadly those Nakodians are"

"Oh I wasn't thinking about using those abilities to get inside the building I know better than that, but if I myself part of the population in town..."

"I still refuse that Lauren and you know full well why"

(Sighs) "fine you win, so who's going to contact the EDC?"

"I will, and by the way I understand why I had to teach you to hide yourself as it is I only know that because of the EDC myself during a harsh time"

"I know, I was told your story after you trained me because they wanted me to understand why you were the best person for the job"

"And it was ultimately those skills that allowed me to escape alive when the time came"

"But even they weren't perfect, they missed some skills when it came down to it"

"I know, but what's done is done, now then I have the EDC to contact you look like you could do with some sparring"

"That's an understatement in all honesty"

"Then I'll spar with you Lauren haven't really been able to these past few days anyways always out on scouting missions"

"Then everything works out perfectly"

The two go to the designated sparring area and then the Captain and Lauren go at it intensely

"So just what was going on between you and the boss?"

"None of your business at the moment, if it becomes important you'll find out in the meantime pay attention would you?"

"I am, you should know I have the title of Captain for a reason"

"Oh Captain of the guards maybe?"

"That's not the only reason, I am technically a deserter in the military at the moment, as are most of my men"

"That's unexpected, why did you 'technically' desert?"

"We didn't agree with the coup, we were meant to be executed because of it but managed to escape. I returned to our leaders in time to warn them about the coup and all of us escaped"

"And have been in hiding ever since I see"

"What choice do we really have?"

"So you in the reserves or what?"

"No I'm a regular soldier in the military, just assigned as a guard to be called back into the field at any moment"

"Makes sense then, I am beginning to understand how your government works"

"How long have you been here then?"

"I actually have no idea but I was originally only supposed to be here a short time, your bosses of course know why but I can't tell you unless ordered to and even then you'll have to understand I am under extreme circumstances here"

All of a sudden the two were called back into the tent

"Okay the EDC has agreed to come, however I think it's time for you to stop hiding Lauren at least amongst us higher ranking people, we leaders already know the full truth about you but I think the Captain of my guard should know as well, besides with these Nakodians you might have to reveal yourself to the EDC and it's best if the Captain finds out first don't you think?"

(Sighs) "I suppose you're right, I'm just surprised you decided I should reveal myself after all considering earlier"

"True but that was so that an enemy didn't find out about you, we don't have any enemies as far as I can tell unless there are spies in my camp"

"You know as well as I do that I keep an eye on any spy activity so no there aren't any spies, I just wonder if the Captain is able to keep a secret under stress because I  _won't_  reveal myself unless absolutely necessary and having the EDC here will certainly be stressful considering the secret. As it is you guys barely passed the test the first time and that's only because I wasn't actually in the room due to the fact that I was on a scouting mission"

"Those Marines were certainly persistent I'll give you that, but they also had a valid reason to be here at the time"

"It also got them killed like at the Embassy, they should have known better than to send people in in the midst of a coup"

"Yes, but the information we gathered for the American military was vital to their security and you know it Lauren"

"I know it's just that I can't trust the secret to just anybody due to how dangerous it is"

"Then how about a test, we're about to invite another group here if he can keep some plans made here right now secret until we decide to reveal them will you trust he can keep yours?"

"We'll see, there will be a lot to factor in but we'll see"

"And Lauren I know for a fact that you didn't obey my orders which were  _valid_  considering what had just happened right before the Marines showed up"

"And you know full well why I couldn't do that seeing as how by that time you knew my situation"

"Maybe I shouldn't have given the order I did but you almost got yourself killed because of that"

(Sighs) "I know it was stupid but honestly considering everything I would do it again. I do want to know one thing though are the clothes still in hiding and also in good condition?"

"Yes they are you should know that"

"Actually I deliberately lost track of that after I handed those clothes to you, I didn't want to risk anything due to my situation"

"I see and in a way can understand, but maybe you should stop denying yourself those clothes"

"We'll see, depending on the full situation after the EDC arrives I might get back into those clothes but like I said we'll have to wait and see. Those clothes are too dangerous right now in the wrong hands and the wrong setting as well"

"I know and understand better than most considering what I've been through, but Lauren your hand might be forced whether you like it or not"

"I know"

"As it is I'm surprised you didn't hand over those other items as well because they're just as identifying as the clothes in my opinion"

"For one of the items I can't have it leave my side for too long for reasons you know about as for the other well they remind me of who I really am and at times I almost forget that due to the situation"

"They give you hope"

"Exactly"

"For now though we need to get some planning done and the Captain has a test to possibly pass"

The group makes the plans and then meets up with another resistance cell. While they talked the Captain actually did a wonderful job of keeping the plans a secret, part of that reason was because he knew how valuable keeping secrets was because no one not even the current leader knew about a part of his past that was kept secret by the government. The Captain passed the test with flying colors but before Lauren could make a decision in a few days the EDC arrived and they started to talk but Lauren's hands would ultimately be forced because of an attack on the camp. The Nakodians didn't know about the resistance in full however they did know that people had recently set camp in their area and no one was supposed to live outside of towns so they attacked the camp in the woods due to those rules made by the military


	19. Chapter 19

"Lauren take point!"

"Sorry sir but that's not going to be possible"

"Why not?"

"Because this has forced my hand like you warned me might happen. I want those clothes ready by the time I get back boss"

"You mean you're..."

"Yep I'm about to reveal myself in a big way by using  _that_ "

"Okay, we'll rendezvous at checkpoint delta"

"Works for me, just get these people out of here!"

All of a sudden Lauren was where the EDC officers were and she didn't have a weapon, or so the officers thought

"Get yourself out of here miss, we'll cover your back"

"No I'm not going to hide from these creeps, besides you guys could use some help"

"And just what help can you provide with no weapons?"

"This...Arranyan winds!"

All of a sudden Lauren had her arms crossed and her fingers in a position not many would recognize and then quickly pulled her arms out and then right afterwords there were chains in her hands without any words but now that she had declared her first attack to the officers words weren't necessary because they had all been debriefed about the fact that she could call on her powers mentally in the days after the battle in Yellowstone

"Fall back I'll lead everyone to checkpoint delta"

So the group falls back to checkpoint delta and Lauren finds everything ready for her

"Here are your things Lauren, there's a tent waiting for you where you can change into your proper clothes. I take it the EDC know who you are now?"

"Yes and they also understand why I don't want to reveal myself to the rest of the world quite yet"

"It's true, we talked on the run and we understand her reasons and they are valid, however we can start calling her by her true name now in the camp"

"They also know I want to surprise my regular crew if at all possible once this country is liberated"

"Considering their jobs I'm wondering how you plan on doing that"

"Oh I'll think of something I always do"

"For now get in your proper clothing"

"With pleasure"

Lauren goes to one of the tents and comes out in different clothes, clothes that most people didn't recognize but some did

"Wait, that's how you know hand to hand Lauren, you're in the American Army"

"Actually I'm in the reserves and by the way the names not Lauren it's Karen, Karen Kerenai"

"Wait but you were killed, we found out about it shortly before the coup"

"Yeah, that's a complicated report that I've already written that will be given to the American government as soon as things are settled here. For now though you and the EDC officers will be getting the full story so that you understand the situation I was in at the time"

Karen goes to the tent where they would plan everything and went to the table where they made all there plans with maps

"Okay we can make plans later but first I need to do some explaining for both the Captain and the EDC officers due to the fact that the leaders of this group already know the truth due to situations that had them find out. As the EDC officers know I was originally here to rescue a medical camp that had been taken out originally by terrorists but then had alien involvement and no Nakodians weren't involved the aliens left me to die. Now then my team gave someone my spare tags I'm sure but I still have a set. Anyhow as I was saying I was abandoned to die with a severely broken left leg which has since healed. What no one knew was that I caused the explosion that caused my 'death' in the first place and survived. After the group left me for dead I did everything I could to survive and once my leg was healed I had originally planned to get to a nearby town and report in then, unfortunately the coup happened before I could fully heal. The leaders found me and helped me during the last part of my healing and then I decided to stay and help with medical and food needs. I didn't realize that this was the government's leaders doing what they could to regain their country for a few days, when I did discover it I myself was discovered and explained my full story to them. After that I officially joined the resistance in a fighter capability though it took me a little bit to fully explain my skills because I didn't trust them at first until one of the leaders revealed who they were, my teacher in hiding myself"

"And you've been helping all that time"

"Yes doing whatever missions I needed for the resistance, in fact the scouting mission is how I found out about the Nakodians. I came back here and was thinking about alerting you guys about them myself but I was reminded that the signal might be hacked so I didn't reveal myself then to keep everyone safe"

"That was actually a good thing because as far as we know the Nakodians didn't know about you guys but now that we've been revealed it appears that the Nakodians are listening in on any transmission that isn't made from the buildings they are in charge of"

"That could make coordinating things a lot harder in the future"

"Kerenai why do I have a feeling I'm not going to like the plan I'm sure you're making right now"

"Because you won't, Captain I have a plan that will stop the Nakodians from tracking our transmissions but I might be captured in the process or even be killed for real this time"

"Kerenai..."

*Captain you know as well as I do that I have the greatest chance of survival *

"Kerenai whatever you just said I didn't understand"

*Don't lie to me Captain, I know you understand what I am saying even if you can't speak it *

(Sighs) "I gave myself away somehow didn't I?"

Karen actually smirks at this because she knew something he didn't, something her family didn't think of which made it so obvious that the Captain understood her

*Yep, your earpiece *

"My...oh now I see what you mean, your family was developing it shortly before you were deployed on your most recent mission but this is the first field test due to the fact that there were a few complications in getting it ready for field testing"

"What are you two talking about?"

"As you've no doubt noticed all EDC officers are currently wearing earpieces that look like hearing aids but that's not the truth, they're actually universal translators which will be a big help for officers dealing with alien ambassadors and their people who might not speak English, it will also be a big help in foreign countries where we don't know the language. It does  _not_  however mean that we can speak the language because in reality we never really took lessons on the language we're just hearing what they're saying in English instead of their language...or well actually it's two different languages at once depending on how fast the speaker is but that's what field testing is for. I still disapprove of your plans though Kerenai"

*Doesn't matter Captain, you know as well as I do that we can't do anything with our comms hacked or did you forget the Lakora disaster that happened when I was fifteen? *

"That disaster wasn't anyone's fault and you know that well"

"Oh really then why did it happen in the first place or did you actually never get the reports you should have?"

"It happened because...of...oh"

"Yeah oh now you think about the report in full while I always think of various situations that might have happened in the past as a means to keep things from happening again if possible"

"You win, but you're still not going Lt. and that's an order"

"Sorry Captain but I'm overriding those orders because you don't know the situation like I do and you know full well I have that authority though I don't choose to use it often because I don't take that kind of authority lightly but at the moment I have no choice"

"Just like when you were twelve"

"That saved a lot of lives if I recall correctly"

"Your principal wasn't too happy about it until he got the full explanation...which  _I_ had to give"

"It's not exactly my fault I was in a coma for two weeks now was it?"

(Sighs) "I know but still you could have explained things to the principal first before you did what you did"

"Maybe but the doctors needed more proof than what I told them and you know that"

"True stupid poison concentrations"

"My thoughts exactly, my immunity was what caused the complication in the first place"

The rest of the group decided to butt in on the conversation because they were a bit lost

"What exactly are you two talking about?"

"Something that isn't relevant here actually but I will tell you the story later I promise, either way we need to get the transmissions from being hacked and I'm using my authority"

The Captain speaks up having thought of something

"Wait I might know a way that we can get a message out without Karen risking her life"

"How?"

"We have a secret means of communicating with one another that's hack proof, we mainly use it when regular communications are down for some reason like that hurricane a few years ago. We test the system once a month and it's actually several different systems. The system is both simple and complicated at the same time, when we first lose regular communication for whatever reason and we need it secured we use one of the methods and then wait a day before seeing if it worked then we check every two weeks depending on the situation so that regular communication can get back to normal. With this situation we check every four days which is what I've been doing every time I leave"

"What about others knowing about the means of communication?"

"That's not possible because only the Captain's know of what the system is and where to go as a security measure and almost all the guards remained loyal only a few followed the coup"

"Wait what about us knowing?"

"Oh don't worry I have that taken care of easily"

The Captain left while Karen modified everyone's memory that ways they only remembered that a means of communication was available and that the Captain was seeing if it would work

"What do we do until he gets back?"

"For now we check up on supplies and then simply wait for a report. I myself am actually assigned scout missions normally after a move especially ones like this. This is the third time in a year now that we've had to move suddenly though the first two times were because of environmental situations but either way the moves were sudden and unplanned"

Just then one of the leaders came out of a tent and spoke up in a loud enough voice that Karen would hear but not the whole camp

"Kerenai, scout mission no more than a mile each direction I can't afford it right now"

"Understood sir"

"Wait what about our wounded or dead, don't you care about those Kerenai?"

(Sighs) "I will talk to you later Zira about the situation regarding that"

Karen does a quick scout mission and reports all clear by that time the Captain was back as well and the group had a funeral finally


	20. Chapter 20

"You're heartless Kerenai and you've known these men since you joined up"

"Just because I didn't show emotion doesn't mean I don't care. Everyone who's in the military has training to handle these situations Zira. I was in the Marines and they broke you down and then built you up and it was harsh but everyone besides me was eighteen at least. There was an instructor there one day who realized a problem neither side knew of until that day. You see I was setting myself up for failure expecting too much of me too soon but I didn't know it and neither did the other instructors because they had legal aged young adults to train I was the first and only kid as far as I know. She mentored me that day and taught me that I was setting my expectations too high and not realizing it. The reason she realized what the instructors didn't was because of the fact that the other instructors weren't around kids a lot while she had two nephews and a daughter of her own and she recognized the look in my eyes after I failed the obstacle course one too many times in my mind. She taught me to set reasonable goals for my age. I also got special instructions in regards to my emotional growth and handling of the situation I was in. I didn't fully learn the lesson about emotional control until I lost a family member myself but I had learned over the years by attending other military funerals. It just didn't hit me until that funeral that I had to remain control at all times because otherwise lives might be lost, even if I wasn't there when my family member dies I realized that lives were saved because my family focused on the task first and mourning later. Your Captain has been through that situation a few times as well where emotional control is paramount especially when the tactical retreat isn't exactly in a safe place"

"You heard about that?"

"Yes but to be fair you were dealing with officers that had incomplete training and that was because of the situation in your country at the time. Zira the reason we don't show emotions during battle is because often times things are happening too fast, afterwords it's because we have to be in control at all times so that any survivors remain in control as well. After everything though especially after a funeral we're allowed the chance to mourn properly, we may not get long to mourn depending on the situation but we are allowed the chance to mourn"

"There's also the fact that even years later something might hit us at a random moment for whatever reason. Did you know that right before the coup I was simply on regular patrol and suddenly one of the people with me did something and part of me remembered an old friend I had lost five years earlier and while it was a happy memory it was also slightly painful because the memory was the last time I had seen him alive"

"That's a surprise Captain"

"Well things are the way they are Zira, just understand that we are still human and we  _do_  mourn but it takes trained soldiers a lot longer to get to the mourning process because we have to stay under control for longer periods of time when it comes to the battlefield"

"I think I get it now"

Just then one of the EDC officers comes out and while most people don't catch what was said Karen did because of the language used

*Understood, stay here will do as ordered. If not back in twenty-four hours tell leaders checkpoint zulu and failing that checkpoint radon after those checkpoints fail MIA/KIA *

*Attack when intel gathered, will hope you join if MIA/KIA *

*Understood *

"Something's up I don't understand what you just told that EDC officer but something is up"

"Yes it is, Captain I know you need to go out frequently to check on the communication system that you're somehow managing to keep from being hacked but I need you to stay at the camp for a few days. I normally wouldn't do this since you're from this country and I'm not and you also technically have a higher rank than mine anyways but I am getting a very bad feeling about this whole situation and I want someone other than EDC officers that has training to protect the camp. I know you haven't fought against aliens really but you're the highest ranking officer in this camp and as such that makes you valuable. Trust the EDC in matters regarding the Nakodians but don't forget that you know the country better than they do and as such you should make them listen to your ideas in regards to plans especially when they don't factor in the terrain"

Just then the EDC captain spoke up again

"Kerenai one more thing that we must check with you"

"What is it Captain?"

*Mandatory sedatives, you have? *

*At all times per orders, you? *

*Critical low, last shipment contaminated, almost lost people due to poison. Still looking for culprits *

*Steal ours when possible, leaders don't know because I make sure of it, haven't needed in two months *

*Lucky *

*Agreed, thought I would after bad battle recently *

*How recent? *

*Two weeks ago *

The other EDC officers were paying attention to the conversation to make sure Karen was taking care of herself and everyone winced at how recent a bad battle had been before this one

*That's recent *

*Keep waiting for backlash. Keep sedatives as close as possible. if search party alert potential paranoia. Two days without sleep already, will get quick nap during mission then wake up. Hyper alertness and paranoia when not enough sleep. Will activate special weapons in said state. Lack of sleep due to how busy we are *

*You positive? *

*Proof during period of death. See emergency files under firefighter. Arsonist attack after forest service period. Stayed up two days straight each shift, barely slept two hours otherwise. Was startled suddenly one time. Suddenly had knife in hand. Chief to talk me down *

*OK will alert to paranoia then if search needed get going *

*Understood *

Karen went on her scouting mission and things went wrong and she had to fall back to one of the checkpoints she had mentioned during sign language period amongst the camp. When she went missing the EDC captain mentioned the possibility of Karen being paranoid

"If that happens it will most likely be an attack first ask questions later situation and she might use her abilities that she has to keep herself safe. She might suddenly have a knife or some other weapon so be careful"

"Understood"

The group took two days but finally they arrived at checkpoint radon seeing as how it was the closer of the two to the camp and discovered Karen there but she was as paranoid as ever because she hadn't really been getting sleep. When she noticed company she decided not to go for lethal initially instead she conjured up a bo staff for her "guests" and did indeed attack first, but she soon realized was was going on and made the weapon disappear

"Sorry about that"

"No problem, we were warned of potential paranoia how much sleep have you gotten?"

"Not enough trust me, I literally can't move here without jumping at every sound I haven't slept in almost three days now"

"Then we'll send a message back to camp stating you've been found and we're staying put in order for you to get some quality sleep"

"How?"

"Oh we have our ways"

"You're lucky I chose a non lethal way to subdue my "guests" which in my paranoid state was basically enemies. I almost thought of using two knives but for some reason decided non lethal was the way to go. Either it's because I don't kill without cause or I wanted to send a message but I don't know either way for sure"

"I'm just glad you did choose the staff, though you could have used a stick instead?"

"Wrong wood, it wouldn't have been sturdy enough to handle the abuse I could potentially put it through you don't know this but I am considered a weapons master for a reason. Now then I desperately need some sleep so that's what I am going to do"

"Okay any warnings we should know about?"

"Just the usual don't wake a sleeping soldier warnings trust me the last time I had a nightmare and someone woke me up they wound up in the infirmary and even though the base commander understood what had happened I was still punished though not as severely as I would have been had it been a willful attack"

"What was your punishment?"

"Extra night duty for the next week"

"How dangerous are you?"

"Well considering I can trash an EDC training robot at full power I would say pretty dangerous"

"Anyone can trash an EDC robot with their weapons"

"John I think she was talking about simple hand to hand training. She can be EDC training robots at full power with just her hands and legs and I'm also guessing a little bit of speed too"

"Just how long have you been training?"

"Since I was five years old and in all honesty my training has been the most complicated amongst the EDC kids"

"Get some sleep Kerenai, you earned it and you also look like you could use it"

Karen would sleep for two full days and not entirely by her own wish. What she and no one else initially knew was that a cut had gotten infected, a cut she herself didn't know about initially that she had gained during the scouting mission. The group with her fought the fever for sixteen hours and then Karen simply slept for another twelve peacefully the rest of the two days was spent recovering from her ordeal and regaining some strength through sleep and drugs

"Kerenai can you fight if needed?"

"Oh I can always fight if needed, unless I stay up for three days straight, even when I am recovering from illness I know how to fight when needed. I once broke an arm at a bad time and continued doing what I was doing because it was needed"

"Okay we have to get back to camp, now that I know you can defend yourself at need we can go"

Fortunately the journey back to camp was quiet and everyone was relieved to see Karen again

"What happened?"

"Well things are actually pretty normal for now the status quo I guess in regards to the situation. As for why we took so long getting back I managed to get a cut and an infection both of which I noticed too late"

"We're lucky we had the drugs needed to help get her better and even now she's not fully well and still full of infection but she can complete her healing here I believe"

(Sighs) "I'm afraid other scout reports aren't so kind to us, we might have to leave sooner than we want and we're also going to have to up a few time lines"

"What for?"

One of the other soldiers speaks up though knowing it was her place to report this to Karen due to the fact that the Captain couldn't currently out on a sabotage mission of great importance

(Sighs) "Captain came through and got a message out and finally received one in return unfortunately we're the lucky ones. The rest of the groups are having trouble just establishing a temporary base of operations which is why contact has been so sporadic and none since we got the suspicion of Nakodian hacking. Thing is that's not the only problem, the rest of the world is only now discovering that the coup was illegal and that the rightful government and the people are trying to reestablish order. The problem with that is America is calling for first dibs and while they have good intentions they don't know about the Nakodians or the fact that the military is using civilians as hostage and they won't be able to find out until it's too late due to the fact that we can't contact the outside world. If we can't alert American forces to the situation in time we're going to have a lot of innocent civilians as casualty and a government that's going to feel extremely guilty for something they had no control over, and the rest of the world won't blame them once the truth is out but they'll be more hesitant to follow America and we can't afford that at the moment"

"There's also the fact that both Japan and South Korea are dealing with the aftermath of an earthquake and have called for relief in the UN which is taking up some of America's military resources though other countries are also offering humanitarian aid including North Korea and China, those two countries are offering not only the most at the moment but also allowing temporary refugees in their countries due to the fact that they're the closest people available"

(Sighs) "I should have known things were too easy. Okay we'll see about getting information out to the rest of the world about the civilian hostages and the Nakodians after that the situation with Japan and South Korea will just have to resolve itself on it's own because we really can't do anything from here considering our own situation at the moment"

"How will we get the message out?"

(Sighs) "Remember that whole I am not to use sneak tactics argument that was used before the Captain of the guard mentioned he had a way of making contact without being hacked? I still don't know his methods but I am going to use my authority to sneak in and send out a message. Yes that means people who believe me dead will find out that I'm not but to be honest I am  _tired_  of being thought dead through my own actions"

"We're actually going to wait on that Kerenai for one very good reason"

"And what reason would that be?"

(Sighs) "I'm probably going to butcher it horribly and I don't even know the translation but your family calls it  _Korravanth_ "

"You're right you butchered it badly it's called  _K'or'ra'v'aa'nsth_ and roughly translated means Peaceful Rest it's a hold over from the time of one of the civil wars. During that time period there was to be no fighting between factions on pain of death if caught by the leaders of your enemy faction, meaning a Decepticon would be killed by the leader of the Autobots and an Autobot would be killed by the leader of the Decepticons unlike normal periods where your own leader killed you if warranted for an infraction. Now instead of no fighting between the factions my family does not intervene in human affairs unless alien influence is involved or extreme loss of life is imminent or happened"

"Which means we won't be breaking this Peaceful Rest because of the Nakodians"

"It's not that simple General, this time they aren't communicating with anyone. It started a few years ago when they were almost tricked into helping with a human conflict with a group pretending that there were Quintessons involved, now to get them involved during Peaceful Rest they have to know the group is on Earth themselves and also have physical proof of the claim which we can't get and the Nakodians are slippery. EDC didn't know about them until your message so the Cybertronians will not believe the claim especially since we have no proof, there's also the fact that Karen's supposed death came during the Peaceful Rest as well which means for three days they are out of contact period for a three day period of mourning"

"One day before and one day after I am declared dead that's why they're out of contact this time, normally they would respond to humanitarian calls like the situation in Japan and South Korea because of the loss of life but they might not even know about that for a few days this time"

"Exactly, this is one big complicated mess and no one is happy about it. I get now why you did what you did Kerenai but still"

"I know, looking back it was stupid but it was the only idea I had on such short notice that I was pretty sure would work"

"Just how long does this Peaceful Rest last?"

"The  _K'or'ra'v'aa'nsth_ lasts two months on Earth, it used to last the equivalent of six months because their months used to last a lot longer"

"It also gave those injured a time to recover a lot longer than during periods of battle"

"And how much time has already passed?"

Karen got the date and did a mental calculation and knew the answer


	21. Chapter 21

"It's only been three weeks if they're consistent on the date. The time occasionally changes but it always falls around this time of the year. Peace negotiations one time delayed it by a week but they were always in the time of Peaceful Rest during my death"

"What I don't get is how three members of your family even if one of them was involuntarily initially could do what they do during the Peaceful Rest"

"It's what they chose when they decided to leave the fighting. Their fight is now on a different level but consider what would happen if they  _didn't_  work during the Peaceful Rest, and this is actually the first time they are doing so depending on what's happening"

"You're right I didn't think about that. At least otherwise they should be able to properly observe the Peaceful Rest...if they explained things to the right people"

"Don't worry the right people know of the Peaceful Rest, I made sure of it when I joined the group"

"Okay works for me"

"How so?"

"Karen also observes the Peaceful Rest whenever possible as much as possible"

"Unfortunately our situation at the moment prevents it but it is what it is"

"Karen if we managed to get proof out would your family..."

"No the three members would not be recalled especially considering what time of the year it is for my normal job"

"I forgot about that"

"Figured you had"

"Either way they're out of contact for another month at least due to the fact that we don't have proof of Nakodian involvement"

"How long has the rest of the world known about the situation here being illegal?"

(Winces) "I'm not entirely sure they know yet, your family started wondering when things didn't improve with the coup but before they could voice concerns to the UN..."

(Sighs) "I get it, everything had to go deep underground and there was no longer any proof that things might not be what they seemed here and my family doesn't interfere lightly and it's worse during Peaceful Rest. OK we can manage to get the picture out my family will get involved quickly but that's not going to be easy considering the communication that I'm going to have to sneak in to use and we don't know how long before America starts bombing runs and kills innocent civilians out of ignorance. I'm pretty sure that the EDC alerted the American military after you guys got the call but with my family incommunicado for the moment they don't know even if you were alerted before my reported death you guys don't disturb them during Peaceful Rest until you have on the ground confirmation and you guys are now probably considered missing yourselves. Add in the Japan and South Korea situation and my family is going to be a pain to get involved and we seriously don't have the time right now"

"And what's this about you guys not having proof?"

"When she talks about proof Captain she means more than a picture that got them here in the first place that they didn't even see until they arrived. We need a more recent picture  _and_  a way to transmit it to the correct people so that they know it's the truth, and also alert them to the civilian situation too all without getting ourselves killed in just getting the message out"

(Sighs) "Kerenai I think I'm starting to see why you requested to send the message out when the Captain offered his own methods that you don't know about for whatever reason. I hate to admit it but you revealing yourself at that time would have saved us a lot of trouble right now"

"Exactly, now then I know some of you think this is as stupid as when I was twelve but think about it for a moment and you'll realize how smart it really is"

"You're right us EDC officers really do think it's as stupid as when you were twelve but once again we're backed into a corner and you're the only one who has the best chance of making it out. The Nakodians already know who you are because of how you managed to get us to safety but with your skills at disguising yourself and even simply being sneaky you have the best chance out of all of us"

"So what's the decision?"

"Karen can do her best to get a message out, however it will have to wait until she's medically cleared because of the infection"

"Will her message even be believed because of the situation?"

(Sighs) "I believe so because it is impossible to fake the codes that are needed. I do mean literally impossible, we tested it when she was what thirteen Kerenai?"

(Snorts) "I think not, try  _seven_  I was really young at the time"

"Either way, another soldier was selected to try and copy Karen's codes but due to the fact that her codes are long and complicated depending on the situation she has to be exact or people could make a mistake either that or she could make a mistake and make things worse. I believe when the soldier tried to use a copy of the codes which were slightly altered from the original and also a copy anyways he got caught pretty easily proving to the world that the codes were bomb proof and that no one but her could use the codes properly. After that I do believe she was taught the art of selective memory deletion"

"Actually I learned that accidentally after Captain Faireborn's crash one time and realized I could use it on myself...which is probably why I've forgotten the Captain of the guards method of communicating which in all things considered is probably a good thing"

"What you do is  _not_ memory deletion but memory modification Kerenai and it's permanent"

"My family developed a drug that would help me remember the codes if I had to forget them remember? I believe they tested it on another soldier who had access to highly classified information and they made sure he forgot in a controlled setting and after being given the reversal drug he remembered the information he was supposed to remember which for the test wasn't even actually classified but he was told it was so that he would agree to the test and know that it would work if he needed to forget the other information"

"How could he be lied to?"

"Because he didn't know that the information had been declassified for two days yet"

"Oh...that would do it, it takes some time to get that information correctly down the chain of command depending on what the information is"

"Exactly, and he wasn't even aware of the information because it wasn't part of his duties to know that kind of classified intel"

"Okay we get the point Kerenai is the safest bet all things considered but only after she's medically cleared. In the meantime I believe you owe us a story about when you were twelve and wound up in a coma for two weeks"

"Yeah I do and I have the time"

The group gathers around to hear Karen's story because Karen never really revealed much about herself even after the EDC officers arrived and her true name was revealed

"Now then one thing you must understand is that the coma was unintentional. What I did was so that the Doctor's had both the proof the police would need and the means to identify what the poison was. Another thing you have to realize is that I was the only person who could do what I did and survive because unfortunately and fortunately at the same time I have a ridicules poison immunity which means it takes a lot more poison to affect me than the average person. I also recover a lot quicker too which is probably why the coma only lasted two weeks"

"However poison can still kill her, it just takes a lot more than the average dose to do so which is both a blessing and a curse as she mentioned. It's a blessing when she's captured by the enemy and they try to poison her but it's also a curse because even if a poison can't kill her that easily she's still affected by them depending on the dose and some of the poisons are downright painful before they kill"

"Now then no one ask questions until I'm done because I'm pretty sure the story will give answers in itself and do understand that everything was unintentional in regards to the coma"

_Twelve years old_

Karen was drinking a bottled tea that the school was trying out when after two gulps she realized something was off and stopped a student right next to her before he even had a sip. The principal was in the cafeteria at the time and noticed it and came over because she knew that Karen wasn't like that

"What are you thinking Kerenai?"

"The tea's poisoned. John I need your drink and then I also need three others as well, call the hospital and explain you have a poisoning. I don't know how fast reacting the poison is so you need to work fast"

Karen quickly drank five poisoned drinks and was quickly reacting to it via a seizure. Unfortunately Karen didn't really explain what was going on to the principal other than the fact that the drinks were poisoned however the principal didn't believe her words because she knew the company and was going to ask for an explanation when Karen drank the five drinks. The ambulance gave her what they could to help with the seizures and then at the hospital Karen was tested for the poison for the antidote which they discovered. They also discovered that Karen only needed to drink two bottles of tea for the concentration to be noticed because of her poison immunity. Two weeks after the incident Karen woke up in the hospital drowsy and hooked up to a few mandatory pieces of equipment and some oxygen but through a nasal canola because she was breathing on her own

"How long?"

"You've been in a coma for two weeks. The doctor's said that it's lucky you have a poison immunity otherwise the amount you had would have killed you instantly, as it is there were a few close calls in the first seventy-two hours because of seizures. We also had to explain why you did what you did to your principal because you didn't give her a chance to ask questions she needed. The police are still looking into the incident by the way and also stated that it's lucky you were the one who had the drink first otherwise things could have turned out very differently"

"Guess so, how mad is the principal?"

"Now that she has the full story she isn't mad at you she's mad at the company and is doing everything she can to find out what happened and who poisoned the drinks, she's cooperating fully with the police by the way"

"Good to know, how long am I going to be in the hospital?"

"At least another week after that we'll see"

"Understood"

_Present_

"The police did eventually find the culprits and it was discovered that the company was not involved at all, instead what was happening was that a driver was being paid to poison the drinks at random intervals except for the school. Now then they had to wait for the school year to start but otherwise if not for me many people would have gotten sick or died because they wouldn't have detected the poison until it was too late"

"We discovered even later that the group was experimenting with multiple poisons some of which would have shown up in little concentration even in Karen because they were either newer or rarer poisons that Karen would not have much chance to have an immunity to. There's also the fact that when we say Karen has a ridicules poison immunity we are not talking about a true immunity"

"She's right, when we say that I have a ridicules poison immunity we're talking more about my bodies ability to recognize poison much quicker than most people would simply through taste. If I notice the poison soon enough I will either not get sick at all or my symptoms will be very mild and short term. If I am forced to take poison then like I said it takes stronger doses to truly affect me like a poison should and even then depending on the poison it might not take as much as people think"

"She also gets sicker a lot quicker too when it comes to the stronger poisons which her body is able to recognize. As it is her immunity is not a fully recognized immunity in the medical field and is more commonly called poison recognition instead even though it's been documented that her body is more capable of handling a poison then regular people. And when she gets sick from poison she gets  _sick_  the coma was the worst but if I recall correctly a ship tried to poison you once and instead of mild symptoms you were in the hospital for a week because you couldn't keep anything down"

"That's actually not the worst of it coma not withstanding. Not many people know this because of the time period but one time I was helping an officer with an undercover op because I just happened to walk right into it accidentally doing some work during the school year, remember?"

"Oh yeah I remember that year, you did it just to make sure that what you wanted was what you wanted instead of just thinking you wanted to be a SEAT you made sure by taking that temporary job"

"Well I was conned into helping the officer and we were caught. The group tortured us and used different poisons, they gave me the stronger poison because they didn't want any witnesses to the cops torture. That got me a month in the hospital with several CDC scientists doing multiple tests on me to not only identify the poisons but also try and figure out just how I survived such a poison. As it is I would have been in the hospital for two weeks anyways because my body was slow to get the poison out of my system. The extra two weeks was the CDC making sure they got all the tests they could think of out of the way"

"Either way the EDC has been fighting to get her immunity truly recognized as an immunity but it hasn't happened yet. And with her supposed death no one but us has been willing to fight for it as well and the CDC has completely ignored us for the past year"

"Well then, I think when I finally return to the fold I will start fighting myself. I never knew about the petitions otherwise I would have joined in and explained things in more detail to the CDC when they were doing their tests so that they understood that it is a true immunity"

"And once the CDC recognizes your immunity the rest of the medical community will have to recognize it as well"

"Exactly"

Just then Karen was called over by the leaders for a reason even she didn't think would happen

"You're the only person who speaks French and while I think some of them know English they're only speaking in French"

"The Foreign Legion, I never expected them to come into play here"

"Yeah, France asked America if they could send the Legion in first apparently, that's in a multilingual note by the way which is the  _only_  reason I know their purpose"

"I think I know why, the EDC is out of communication and while America has full right to go in first the Legion can be a bit sneaker than American forces who are sneaky enough at need, however the enemy would expect American forces and France knows that. Okay I'll talk to them and see where we'll go from there"


	22. Chapter 22

Karen goes over to the Legion and simply starts speaking

*What exactly is your mission here? *

*We're to be forward scouts for both America and France...who are you by the way? *

*Lt. Kerenai of the American armed forces. I will explain everything at a later date but first I must ask if you have had communication with the outside world since you got on the ground? *

*No sir, but we were about to report to our commanding officer about making contact with a resistance cell *

*You can't, our communications are being hacked. I myself am planning on a mission behind enemy lines which will allow us to communicate with the outside world securely and would also reveal my presence *

*Indeed, we have reports that you're dead Lt. *

*Oh I knew that as soon as I set off the explosion, I survived however and joined up with this group after they found me while I was still healing *

*You definitely have a lot of explaining to do, so we can't make contact with our commanding officers? *

*Not without revealing your location and as such bringing danger to everyone. As it is bombing runs are not advisable due to civilian hostages *

*When are you planning this foray behind enemy lines? *

*Soon, but the Nakodians will be tricky to get past *

*Nakodians? *

*It's why we have EDC officers with us *

*This was not told to us *

*We know, that's part of the problem of being out of communication with the rest of the world for fear of being discovered *

*Well looks like we're stuck here with you until further notice *

*True but I will reveal myself soon and once things are in place we'll be able to free the country *

Karen then walked out of the tent and whistled a specific set of whistles which only the EDC recognized as a code. Once she was sure of the fact that they were paying attention she started signing

*Going out tonight to send message. Forty-eight hours before declare anything wrong. Will use personal codes to reveal myself. Do  _not_  send rescue team if overdue, most likely captured or dead in that event. Keep patrol tight, and help Foreign Legion adapt to new situation *

Later that night Karen does indeed manage to sneak into Nakodian lines and even manages to get a message out which couldn't be hacked because it was their own system. She sent a message out to American forces that she knew were close using her own codes but the message was simple because she was on a time limit before a patrol could catch her. Once she got her message out she quickly left and got into the woods where she found a good hiding spot and stayed there for the rest of the night knowing she wasn't too far from base. On a nearby ship

"Captain, we just received a coded message that looks to be of the highest priority I myself do not have the means to decode this message but you do"

The Captain looks at the message and is visibly shocked

"It can't be, she died a year ago"

"Captain what is it?"

"I'll read the message out loud since it will affect our plans, unfortunately for us we have no way of sending another message to confirm this except through a run but it's been given to us by a dead person. Granted the codes used are impossible to fake but still this person is  _dead_  they were declared dead a year ago"

_Message_

"Alive and safe. Nakodians have civilian hostages. Bombing run in-advised. Ground troops needed. Attack when ready. I repeat Nakodians have civilian hostages. Bombing run in-advised. Ground troops needed. Attack when ready. Kerenai"

_End of message_

"Kerenai...how is that possible sir?"

"That's what we're going to find out after we deal with the Nakodians and then with the coup"

So America starts their attacks and the resistance groups on the ground join in, it would still take several months but finally the country was free and everyone could see that Kerenai was alive and well

"Why did you do that to us?"

"I did it to handle an enemy, I was the one who caused the explosion"

"Well it's time you went home"

"Agreed"

Karen soon was on a plane home when suddenly there were terrorists on board, she had gotten emergency re-certification in regards to piloting because it was soon obvious she hadn't lost any of her skills but she would need to officially re-certify once she was back home

"Okay time to deal with some terrorists"

So the group managed to take down the terrorists and Karen got into the cockpit quickly where it was discovered that the co-pilot had faked his death but had a broken arm

"Okay I take the side that the broken arm would make hard to handle and you take the other side"

"Works for me"

They soon start trying to alert the proper people that the hijackers were finished but they soon realized that while they could hear messages they couldn't send any

"Okay, time for me to do something else"

So she quickly uses the communication device that had been imputed after 9/11

_Message_

"Comms sabotaged Military code use"

_End message_

Karen was soon communicating via military code to alert the people on the ground know the full situation without confusion.

"Okay now that they know this is an escort mission we need to land this bird fast"

"Have an airport for us?"

"Yes it's...okay this is rare, we're not being given an airport we're being given coordinates, coordinates that I actually recognize, okay you're going to have to be secondary to me"

"I already am considering my busted arm"

"Actually you're the main person who's been flying the plane I've just been keeping it steady at points and also been the main communicator because of the fact that I know military codes and you don't. The situation has changed however in the fact that quite frankly you don't know the base we're landing at and I do"

"Wait we're landing at a military installation?"

"Yes, I don't know exactly why but that's where we're landing, it might have to do with me being on board after having supposedly died a year ago but I don't know that for sure, there might also be other reasons that we can't think of at the moment too"

The two work together to land at the base with the co-pilot following Karen's lead. Once they were on the ground emergency services were on standby while the passengers used the doors to escape both Karen and the co-pilot were the last ones off the plane. They were met by base commanders immediately the base already knowing that they were arriving

"You two come with me, we have a lot to talk about"

"Yes including the reason why we landed at a military base instead of a civilian airport"

"That's a complicated mess I won't get into until we're in private quarters Kerenai, and by the way you have some explaining to do both in regards to your survival and your reasons why you don't want your civilian team to know about you being alive yet"

"Oh for the civilian team that's simple really. I want to make sure I'm up to par before I reveal myself to them considering my civilian job it's better that I return the way I was supposed to instead of unsure if I've lost any of that skill and the fact that the license would have expired due to death"

"Okay you have a point there, but still did you  _have_  to make us think you were dead?"

"That's a bit more complicated I'm afraid"

"Figured as much, just how much more complicated is it?"

"Um aliens wanting to kill the team complicated"

(Sighs) "I get the feeling that we simply should have had the EDC do the rescue mission"

"Actually I'm glad they didn't because they might have gotten themselves killed for real. As it is they wanted someone as a hostage for negotiations but then something happened and they simply abandoned me to die with a severely broken leg. Instead I survived and helped get the country back into the right hands"

"It took you guys over a year to succeed with help and even then you personally were thought dead for a year because of that stunt you pulled"

"It kept everyone alive. Now then why were we told to land at a military base instead of a civilian airport? I know for a fact that this isn't normal procedure"

"There's complications involved with your plane beyond you being in the cockpit and using military codes. If that had been the case we would have gladly allowed you to land at a civilian airport unfortunately things are simply not to be at the moment"

"What's going on Captain?

"Unfortunately for us terrorists. The terrorists you managed to take down weren't the only ones, we need to do an interview to discover who else might have been part of the plot. We also have the best bomb squad and considering the current threat it's best that the plane is blown up here where there aren't any innocent civilians as casualties instead of losing hundreds of lives maybe even more

depending on when and where the bomb went off"

(Sighs) "I should have known things were too easy. So what exactly is the plan currently?"

"For now we can't do much so instead we inspect the plane and interview everyone, especially because the explosives are supposed to be military grade explosives and as such considering the current situation the civilian bomb squad of the police would not be able to properly handle the situation"

"And as such we were ordered to land here. When was the threat received?"

"While you were overseas, we looked at the passenger list and when we saw your name we were shocked but we also knew that the plane was in the best hands possible. Even if you need to re-certify for everything you still remember the basics and even then you have military and hand to hand training that would be useful"

"True enough, why did you believe the list though?"

"Because of the fact that it's hard to fake a passenger list for one thing and for another once the country was freed several people alerted the military that you were alive through official military channels"

"What about my family?"

"Neither family knows about you yet, we decided on that in case you died in the crash"

"Okay, so how am I going to get my re-certification then?"

"We'll make sure you can fly via military first while you go through retraining for the branches and then we'll send you to Yellowstone to re-certify as a SEAT"

"And also return home to my firefighting family at the same time"

"Exactly, Lauren is doing good by the way and the team said they won't accept a replacement, though I think they might make the exception because of you"

"True enough, now then let's make sure the plane is safe first then..."

All of a sudden there was a huge explosion and when they looked out the window they could tell that the plane had been blown up


	23. Chapter 23

"Guess it was either a timed bomb or someone decided to blow up the plane anyways"

"Looks like, we'll find out more later"

"Well I will also need to re-certify for everything I was certified for before, so it's going to be at least a year and a half before I can return to Yellowstone, even with me qualifying for certain things no matter the branch. Guess I should change my plans then and inform Yellowstone of my survival now"

"Guess so, but after this investigation is completed for the moment anyways, you know as well as I do that this will take months to really complete, but an initial investigation should only take a few days"

"Works for me"

The NTSB investigators interviewed everyone over the past few days to get any leads they could from the passenger and crew that survived the terrorist attack and quickly realized that Karen was the only reason why things didn't get worse due to the fact that she had training which was really helpful and when they interviewed Karen herself they realized that she stuck to facts and expanded on them when questioned with clarity only a soldier or public service member be they firefighters or police officers could do due to their training

"Okay thank you for that information, we'll get in contact with you if we have any more questions"

"One more thing now that I think about it, if we hadn't landed at the military base there would have been a lot more civilian casualties however normally even after this we would have been sent to a regular airport. I think someone deliberately told people about what was being used as a bomb, we might need to be looking for more terrorists as well because it might have been the military that's the target instead"

"But since people have more training in the military only those that needed to be near the plane were close by when it exploded and the fact that you landed as far away as possible also helped keep the situation...slightly contained"

"Yes, I knew better than to be close to the base because civilian planes are not normal on a military base and considering I had just knocked out several terrorists I figured best to keep the plane isolated just in case"

"We'll consider everything you've told us along with the evidence...once we get it, I just hope the black box wasn't destroyed in the explosion"

"I don't think it was, but for now we all have jobs to do"

Karen then went to the base commander and made her request up front

"Can I contact Yellowstone now?"

"Yes you can, will they believe you?"

"Well not initially no, but my family knows my codes inside and out and there's something up my sleeve in case they aren't available something only I can do"

"Okay make the call then"

Karen dials a number so familiar to her she could do it blindfolded and then simply waits for someone to pick up the phone and someone does, her chief, the chief who had believed her dead for a little over a year now

"Hello chief it's Kerenai...it's really me chief...I never died though the military rightfully thought I did that day...Echo one bravo seven...chief it  _is_  me...okay fine we'll do it the hard way...*does any human besides me know Cybertronians? *...chief...hey Powerglide it's me... *Powerglide you were the one we thought dead for almost six years not me *...yeah look I need retraining desperately considering the situation I was in when thought dead...just letting you guys know I am alive and will return...okay bye Powerglide"

Karen hangs up the phone and the base captain knows everything was going to be okay when suddenly alarms started sounding and the two look out to see trouble

"We need to get those birds tied down immediately!"

"I'll handle it"

Karen goes out and simply puts her hands on the ground and all of a sudden every plane and helicopter out in the open was chained down securely, as securely as Karen could make them because everyone could see from a distance that the chains were thick, there were several on each and as far as everyone could tell were in the ground somehow

"How far do those chains go underground?"

"Fifteen feet, now then there might still be some damage to them but as far as I know they won't be leaving the base and will be staying put for the most part"

"Broken glass and minor wing and engine damage we can handle, completely replacing the planes or helicopters would have been expensive"

"For now we ourselves need to get to safety"

"Yes indeed we do, come on I have a shelter nearby that will work"

The two of them go to the nearby shelter and see several other soldiers and civilians already inside. Once the two of them were in the doors were locked once more and soon enough the Tornado that the sirens had warned everyone about was above them. It lasted several minutes but finally everyone was given the all clear, unfortunately for Karen's group they were a bit stuck

"Looks like debris is blocking our exit guys, we're fine and safe but we can't move"

"Don't worry we're on the way looks like several groups are in the same position as you but they are safe and are handling things better than one would think besides we made sure those bunkers had at least forty-eight hours of food, granted they're MRE's but it's still food"

"Food allergies"

"Well as you pass them out ask so that you don't make things bad for anyone"

"You have a point, okay we'll simply sit tight, at least we have communication down here"

"That's something I'm glad you insisted on Commander"

"Same here it's turning out to be really handy at the moment"

"By the way we've checked on the planes. There's wind and debris damage but the planes are otherwise intact and it could have been worse all things considered. Whoever put those chains in the ground was a genius because otherwise we would have lost at least two birds and three helicopters, though how the chains were put down so fast is a bit confusing"

Karen is the one who speaks up

"I'm taking credit for that Lt., those are my chains that I made with my special abilities which you're cleared to know about due to your special circumstances"

"Kerenai, I heard the rumors that you were alive but I didn't dare believe it until now, how deep are those chains?"

"Fifteen feet, want me to disperse them?"

"Not at the moment no, it's actually better right now due to the fact that quite frankly we have nothing to put them in if another storm hits and there's so much debris that keeping the planes put for now is the best option, having them chained is even better because no one can get the bright idea of taking them for a flight otherwise because the damage we saw was preliminary damage from the storms that was visible"

"You guys need to check out the engines once everything else is cleared"

"Exactly"

"By the way considering your special circumstances how are things currently going in that project?"

"Standstill for two years now. I almost became an alcoholic because of you by the way"

"Oh?"

"Yep, I  _needed_  you at one point because I thought I could break the standstill and almost called you when I remembered you were dead. I went on a binge and was stopped by another member of your family who said that they would pull me if I went down that path, took five months to truly get over your loss and now I find out you weren't dead"

"It was a near thing at times though, and I'm sorry about that but at the time I really had no other choice due to the fact that the rest of the team would have been killed otherwise"

"I've read the reports and I know and understand, just didn't really like it"

"I know, by the way just what are you stuck on?"

"Come by later and I'll tell you since you're being re-certified to become a pilot first"

"Okay works for me"

Karen then went and started to re-qualify for what she needed to re-qualify for and since she was at an airbase she started with flying. Two days into the training she went to the Lt. to see what he was stuck with and see if he had a break through in regards to a special project

"So what exactly do you need to discuss in regards to the possible breakthrough?"

"Okay you know what my special project is about due to who raised you?"

"Yep, you were working on making Cybertronian technology able to make special chips that enable people with mental issues to be able to control their problems. You were also trying to figure out how to use Cybertronian technology to help with the energy crises the military is currently dealing with"

"Exactly, the reason why I am working on the medical aspect is because of my older sisters Schizophrenia the other project is because we are running out of oil to make gas so I was trying to see how to convert raw goods into Energon which has more energy for less for whatever reason"

"Okay so what exactly are you stuck on? I'm also sure my family could have helped if you asked"

"True except there's an aspect that they wouldn't understand that you would"

"Which would be?"

"See I know you were the one to design a few of our weapons but I can't figure out how to use human technology to make the conversion of raw fuel to Energon. I was thinking that since you know human and Cybertronian technology inside and out you might be able to help me with a converter in regards to the energy crises. I know I need a bit more help with the chip project but that I already have help with so I just need your help with the energy side"

"Okay show me how you think you made a breakthrough and we'll see where to go from there"

Karen sees the plans and instantly realizes where the problems were

"Okay, for one thing the converters are reversed which means they wouldn't work in a normal engine and for another those types of converters won't work period. Now then if you see these parts here that are meant to intake fuel and change it to Energon you can see that they should work right?"

"Yeah"

"Except converting raw fuel into Energon isn't as simple as one might think. You think it's a simple matter of a converter but there are parts that are missing that won't allow anything else to work right without them"

Karen then shows the Lt. what she was talking about and together they worked out a solution which needed testing but also looked promising

"How did Powerglide take to the conversions once he was awake?"

"He took them well and understood why, Springer and Inferno were not modified but all things considered that's probably for the best"

"But wait, then what if something happens to them that requires repairs?"

"That's why another mechanic decided to become certified in Cybertronian tech so that if something happens to those two he can repair Springer and Inferno if I'm not available for whatever reason"

"When did that happen?"

"Shortly before the mission that got me 'killed' for a year, he discussed it with me before I left and it was decided that while I was gone he would receive the proper training. Apparently Ratchet took over in teaching him what he needed to know and he did very well quickly getting certified. Helps that the mechanic has photographic memory though"

"That would help wouldn't it?"

"Indeed it would"

Suddenly Karen started coughing and when she removed her hand everyone looked at her in concern because a few others were now in the room as well because of other projects going on


	24. Chapter 24

"Lt. your hand"

"Wha..."

Karen looked at her hand and realized what was going on

"Blast I thought I would have more time"

"What are you talking about Lt.?"

(Sighs) "I'm sick and both the military and the EDC knows I'm sick"

"What about your firefighting family?"

"They don't know I didn't want them to know I had returned only to find out that they would lose me if a cure isn't found. I originally thought I had at least a year unfortunately a cure has to be found within the next six months or I will die seeing as how I am now actively coughing up blood"

"How did you get sick?"

"Do you guys know the basics of where I've been the last year?"

"Yes we heard about that country and how you were there for a year initially thought dead but apparently actually alive if incommunicado"

"The Nakodians used a biological weapon during one of their last attacks and I was caught in it. When I came back I informed both the military and the EDC about the attack and gave them all the data on the weapon that we had, they are collaborating to find a cure unfortunately I just basically ran out of time, the longer I cough up blood the less likely a treatment will work for me and all data says that the people infected die within six months of when they start coughing up blood"

"Is there any way to buy you more time?"

(Sighs) "Unfortunately not, my family has been working on a project for about three years now but as far as I know they haven't gotten very far despite the efforts of both them and the greatest minds the EDC has to offer, seeing as how everyone here is cleared I can tell you that it's a cryogenic pod meant to sustain life for an extended period of time though not indefinitely unless hooked up to a direct power source. The two problems are any power source would be drained drastically because of how much power the pod would be using and the other problem is that so far it isn't safe to freeze a person completely in order to sustain life. Yes hospitals induce hypothermia to help patients in comas or other situations but it's not the same as actually freezing a person in a point of time until a later date, my family hasn't even begun the testing phase and while I would gladly volunteer they would never allow it for many reasons"

"So basically you're dying and there's nothing to be done"

"Exactly, and part of this diseases trickiness is that nothing shows up in the blood work until you start coughing up blood so unless the patient tells you they've been exposed to the Nakodian bio-weapon you don't know that they're sick until blood comes up and normally that doesn't happen until six months after exposure, it's only been one month for me"

"Is it obvious in the blood work once you  _do_  start coughing up blood?"

"Yes and speaking of which I should get myself down to medical because they wanted to monitor me on a regular basis once the coughing started"

"Then why start the retraining process if you're going to die before you complete it?"

"For one didn't expect it to start so soon and for another it was a good way to regain balance"

"You had been away for so long you wanted to get back to a sense of normality, even though you knew you wouldn't have had much time"

"Exactly, the military understood that and as such granted my request, and while I did make contact with my firefighting family everyone agreed to hide the truth from them about my true status in health until we have no other choice"

"They aren't going to be too happy with you you know"

"Oh I know boy do I know about that"

"Wait I heard a rumor about you having an immunity to poisons one would think that includes bio-weapons so how are you sick?"

"Easy because while I do have a ridicules immunity to poisons even if it's not recognized as an immunity I was in the poisonous cloud for two hours making sure civilians were evacuated before the poison reached them and then was also in battle inside the cloud as well and even my immunity can't handle that much poison especially when designed to be a bio-weapon"

"So now you need to be monitored on a regular basis and are now forced to stay on the ground"

"Exactly, my firefighting family will know of my impending death a month in advance because by that time there will be no hope of a cure being found in time for me and like I said my family is working on a way to extend someone's life as a means to give people time to find a cure if they so choose but last I knew they weren't even in the testing stages"

"Maybe things have changed since you last heard of the project"

"It's possible but not likely and in any case I have something else on my mind that I need to fight before my death, something the EDC has been trying to do for a long long time"

"What's that?"

"To get my poison immunity recognized by the CDC as a true immunity, and I think a long explanation is in order for them to understand why the EDC and I call my poison immunity an immunity instead of recognition"

"That's gonna be a fight then"

"True but they did tests themselves and never declared it an immunity but maybe I can explain things better in a long letter that will let them understand why we call it an immunity and not recognition. Hopefully the CDC will recognize it then as a true immunity and if I die I die"

Karen goes to medical first and then writes that long letter so that her immunity could be recognized as an immunity. For two more months Karen does retraining and is re-qualified to become a Marine but nothing else and even then everyone could tell that she was getting weaker every day and as such she wouldn't really be able to do much with her re-qualification

"Karen you have re-qualified to be considered a Marine but I don't think you can be active duty if not for your unique circumstances you wouldn't have even been trained"

"I know, I think I'll simply stay here and help people where I can, the CDC can reach me here as can the EDC"

"What about your family?"

"As far as I know they still haven't gotten to the testing stage of their cryogenic pod"

"When did you last here from them?"

"A month ago, we agreed to monthly reports unless something comes up that requires an update sooner and yes that includes a working pod to test"

"I thought you said they would never use you for testing"

"Normally they wouldn't but this is a desperate case for everyone and the government is allowing it as are they"

"Okay then, well good luck"

"Thanks only four months to live I guess and only three months until my firefighting family discovers what I've hidden"

"There's still time Karen, don't give up hope"

"I'm not just stating facts really"

"Then why do you sound so defeated?"

(Sighs) "I'm afraid for me right now stating facts will simply sound like I am giving up but I'm not, however I am  _tired_  Lt. I am so incredibly tired, we're currently treating my symptoms and unfortunately it exhausts me due to how progressed the disease is"

"The CDC?"

"Still haven't heard from them either"

"If your immunity is recognized posthumously I'm not sure how your family will react"

"Neither am I actually but to be honest for it to be recognized at all will be an accomplishment"

Just then Karen was handed an envelope, she didn't know who it was from due to how non nondescript it was but she also knew better than to ignore it due to the fact that it could be any number of things. She opened it and saw that it was a letter and as soon as she started reading the letter everyone else could tell it was good news because there was shock on her face but there was also a smile as well

"What is it?"

"It's from the CDC, after reviewing their tests again and getting a further detailed description from me about what happens to me whenever I am poisoned and add in the fact that as soon as I started coughing up blood I requested the base to send blood samples to the CDC on a regular basis the CDC has recognized my poison immunity as a true immunity. They are treating it like the flu shot where if you get the shot it's unlikely you'll get the flu however if you do get the flu then it's not as severe as without. However they are also considering how much poison I am exposed to as well which determines how bad my symptoms are"

"But overall you're basically immune to poisons"

"Exactly"

"Now if only your family can come through for you"

"We'll see"

Just then the base came under attack by both Nakodians and Quintessons

"Great two enemies combined...alright take this Arranyan knife barrier"

Suddenly there were a lot of knives surrounding the base which acted like a barrier and kept several of the enemy forces out though there were areas where the enemy managed to get through before the barrier was completely up but the majority were not on base which was a good thing. Unfortunately that's when Karen discovered just why the poison was affecting her sooner than expected due to the fact that she had a severe coughing fit

"My powers...they're killing me from the inside out unintentionally, looks like this will be my final battle if I continue like this"

Karen realized as soon as she used her powers that the poison was interacting with her her abilities on a level that was basically like it affected her DNA. Karen had realized soon after her powers emerged that even when she wasn't actively using her abilities her abilities were right there waiting for her in her DNA and minute traces of her powers were always active, not enough to really affect the outside world because she  _did_  have to call on any of her abilities including her shields for them to be active, however because of the fact that her powers were part of her DNA they gave her a slight boost even when inactive. The poison she had been exposed to affected her DNA near the end of her life and now that she used her powers she realized that her powers were also affected by the poison and as such shortened her life drastically

"Looks like I have a choice now, die today fighting to keep the base safe or keep dying a slow agonizing death and telling my firefighting family in only a few months that I will only last another month...okay decision made"

Karen used her powers to the end even though several soldiers who had joined up with her as she weakened noticed she was coughing up more and more blood as she used her powers and one even tried to stop her and failed

"Karen stop...you're killing yourself"

"I know Lt. I made this choice freely"

Karen had one final attack in her and she knew it, she also knew what to use as well. Suddenly she jumped into the air and used several enemy aircraft to get pretty high and then she started spinning and stayed in the air and they all heard her final attack

"Arranyan explosion!"

Suddenly a burst of light came out of her in all directions killing most of the enemy, those not killed immediately retreated. Meanwhile Karen was let gently onto the ground where they found out she was still barely alive

"Tell...tell my firefighting family I'm sorry...and tell them about the lie I told them"

"We will, I promise Kerenai, we will"

"I know"

With those words Karen died. Several days later those who could leave the base were at Yellowstone. Karen had updated her will shortly before the mission that 'killed' her for a year and she requested that she be cremated and then her ashes spread across Yellowstone from the firefighting base. Her firefighting family mourned her during that time and understood why she never told them about the poison and quickly forgave her of her lie. They spread her ashes per her will and continued the fight to keep the forest and her inhabitants safe. Her Cybertronian family continued protecting Earth in her honor while Yellowstone designated a new building in her name. That new building was a sub station of the main firefighting base, Karen had worked for years to get a sub station approved because she had noticed it getting harder and harder for her team to protect such a large area from one base. The sub station however was not an air attack base but instead was for ground crews, and that station did not have a permanent crew. Instead firefighting stations from neighboring towns sent in volunteers on a one month rotation, though one time due to a huge fire it was a two week rotation but that was because the crew on rotation at the time all had injuries that required long term treatment in a burn facility though there were fortunately no deaths. Karen's Cybertronian family also eventually completed the cryogenic pod project and made sure enough were made around the world in case they were needed, though all countries had strict and different rules about cryogenic use, one internationally agreed term was for alien poisons so that the person would have time for a cure to be discovered something her family failed to do due to extenuating circumstances


End file.
